Without focusing too much on this, a mention has to be made about Barack Obama’s visit to Berlin where the presumptive democratic nominee delivered a [fill in your choice of adjective] speech (full text).
Here are reactions to the speech from Certain Ideas of Europe and Julien Frisch (part 1, part 2). You might also be interested in a summary of the speech by The Washington Post.
Frisch’s verdict?
This was a political speech, but not a historic one.
[UPDATE July 25th]: See reaction to the speech in the comments section at afoe; also check out the analysis provided by the Kosmopolit.
[UPDATE July 26th]: Here is a reaction to the reaction to Barack Obama’s speech. Jeffrey White writes in an exclusive for World Politics Review:
Europe’s apparent fascination with Obama, however, also speaks to a subtler reality: Politics here has grown less than inspiring. Leaders like Gordon Brown of Britain and Nicholas Sarkozy of France have proven ineffectual in the eyes of their voters, and their approval ratings are low. The European Union has spent the better part of three years haggling over a constitution, with Brussels unable to broker any bloc-wide consensus. And in Germany, a “grand coalition” between the Christian and Social Democrats, the two largest political parties, has found itself at a standstill, with both sides more often than not at loggerheads.
