CINDERFORD, England — The much-delayed final ratification of the Lisbon Treaty, and the appointment of former Belgium Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy as president of the European Union and Britain’s Cathy Ashton as de facto foreign minister, means that the EU will increasingly take center stage on matters of global trade, foreign policy and security as the world looks to Brussels rather than the national capitals of EU members for key decisions.
Former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger once famously quipped, “Who do I phone when I want to speak to Europe?” His successors will have the numbers in the future.
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