After last week's meeting in the Med, Secretary of State James Baker proclaimed, "We are moving into the post-postwar era." The postwar period began with the division of Europe after World War II; the stage of history now beginning is "post-post" insofar as that division is ending. The phrase, with its catchy double prefix, is well on its way to becoming a cliche on the op-ed pages and airwaves of the West. It helps experts who are groping for sound bites more erudite than "Wow!" as they ruminate about the astonishing pace of change in Europe.
Yet in a crucial respect,...
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