TCS Daily - Lamely at the Top (Anemic World Leadership)

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For several years it has been clear that the current set of European leaders, with the possible exception of Blair, have been either unwilling or unable to push through the sort of deep-seated social and economic reforms EU states desperately need. Yet there has always been a vague hope the next generation of leaders would be more open to change. That increasingly looks like wishful thinking. Sarkozy, the man most likely to succeed Chirac as French president, used to talk of the need for France to make a clean break with its past. Not any more. "Sarko" refused to back the hire-and-fire labor law that brought millions onto the streets of France; he champions a protectionist trade policy and has watered down plans to trim the country's bloated public sector. He is, to put it mildly, no Margaret Thatcher. German Chancellor Angela Merkel used to welcome comparisons with Britain's Iron Lady. But her decision to enter into a grand coalition with the left-leaning Social Democrats has effectively scotched any prospect of radical reform, leaving Merkel free to focus -- with some degree of success -- on foreign policy. Blair's likely replacement, Finance Minister Gordon Brown, has presided over almost a decade of economic growth, low unemployment and high investment in public services. But the dour Scot has none of Blair's flair and is rooted in "old Labour" thinking. On present polling, he will be beaten by the Conservative's youngish leader David Cameron at the next election. Note EU-Digest: On the other side of the Atlantic things are not much better with polls showing that the US population has lost all confidence in its President and government leaders. As Fred Hastings, Cutler Maine's editor of the Down East Coastal Press wrote "I think we're seeing a general meltdown in support for the entire governing class as the result of a perception that it lacks the seriousness and self-restraint necessary to run a major nation."