possible for Europe to become a single state?

Esperanto?   I know it's not used by that many people but if you are gonna start kids why not?  i've heard it's great for learning other languages in general also? 

A unitary state is highly unlikely to happen in the near future. For several scholars and historians the only way for this to happen would be the complete dissolution of STATES into NATIONS, in order to form a Federation of Regions - this would, in theory, mean the end of bigger countries like France, Germany, Italy, Spain as we know them, giving way to autonomous regions like Brittany, Corsica, Hesse, Bavaria, Veneto, Piedmont, Galicia, Catalonya, and so on. One can easily see the obstacles in this path: centralism, national pride, etc... It is quite hard for euro-sceptics to accept the existance of multi-nationalism under a supra-national state.

Edited by Frederick Roger - 13-Nov-2008 at 11:21

I'll learn Greek if you learn Irish :-)

Well, where is this headed? The Constitution nearly passed a few years ago, and although I don't think the United States of Europe will come into existance any time soon, I do think it will happen eventually. I, personally, am opposed to it because I'm afraid that all of the smaller cultures will die out, but then, they are dying out already.

Edited by Red4tribe - 28-Nov-2008 at 21:57

Whats the chances with the economic train wreck that's occurring. Will it bring the UK and its pound peso closer to the euro or will we see a rise in nationalism again (think the 30's) as countries crack under the pressure like Iceland?

lets be even more specific; Will German tax payers want to pay for Greek pensions and whos going to save Spain?

Originally posted by Leonidas lets be even more specific; Will German tax payers want to pay for Greek pensions and whos going to save Spain?

German tax payers (pensions are actually not payed by taxes but pension funding similar to taxes) can't even pay their own pensions.

Originally posted by Mix Within a few decades that question may sound equally ridiculous as "Will Bavarian tax payers want to pay for Low Saxon pensions and who's going to save Brandenburg?

Expansion and consolidation are contradictory actions, yes, which is why expansion must be slow, meticulous and limited if consolidation is to be realistic.

Turkey is a difficult case and given that Turkey meets EU's demands there remains the question of identity. A European Union needs a European identity superimposed on all the regional identities, which is as Beylerbeyi pointed out already in the making, but I wonder if the Turkish people can realistically be expected to think of themselves as Europeans in the near future. If we were dealing with the Ottoman state I'd say it wasn't possible, but as we're dealing with the Turkey left behind by Ataturk it may be possible given time. One strategy could be to market it as a continuance of Ataturk's westernisation program by presenting him as a pioneer of Turkish europeanisation. It would also be important to make it perfectly clear that a European identity isn't determined by religion and that the EU in no way is a revival of Christendom, as the Vatican would have it. Then again this might alienate several other member states, which begs the question of whether it's worth it.

Concerning a common defense, any such plan will be "unnecessary" as long as NATO functions, certainly, but it's hard to predict what the geopolitical landscape will look like in the future and a eurocentric defense plan should at least be kept as a plan B.

Originally posted by Leonidas yeah but the Greek government is getting priced out of the bond market (default risk is too high), they're only doing short duration bonds, 3-6 months. Its becoming very conceivable the EU will have to step in if it cant roll these boys over.who is a big net funder of the EU? Italy and the other southern states are also screwed so it wont stop with little Greece

what do you mean by bond market?

Impossible.

I'd say FEDERAL STATE. But also hardly, long time in the future perhaps, not any time soon.