Qaddafi’s fall could be economic boon for Europe - by Matthew Lynn

Germany is edging back to recession. France is getting caught up in the euro zone’s crisis. Greece is close to default, and may take a bank or two down with it. Good economic news is in painfully short supply in Europe right now.

But the fall of Col. Muammar Qaddafi is one event we can celebrate. For Europe, it opens up huge new growth possibilities. With Qaddafi gone, we have now seen new regimes installed in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya. Syria can’t be very far behind. The Arab Spring is morphing into an Arab Autumn, with clear victories for the modernizers. 

This is opening up a vast new market, and it is right on Europe’s doorstep. Two of these are big countries. They all have young populations. A few at least have a lot of natural resources. And they all have deep historical links with the main European nations — France, Italy, and Britain in particular. 

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