EU, with a combine population of 450m that is a lot larger than USA and a very significant economic strength, should be a superpower in its own right. But it is not.

What are the reasons for a seemingly stunted Europe?

One needs only to look at the highly divergent politics between EU member states and its embeddedness in the massive military alliance NATO under USA dominance to understand why. These two factors alone make it really difficult for EU to play an important leadership role globally.

One could also point to several basic structural issues that impeded EU's development as a superpower. These include its main political institutions such as the European Commission and the European Parliament.

The future of EU is bound up intimately with the outcome of the Russia-Ukraine war, the toxic USA-China rivalry, and EU's trade relationship with China.

Hopefully, the hostile confrontational politics and international relationship that prevails in the 20th and early 21st centuries will become a memory of the past and vital lessons for the new world of peace and prosperity.

A revitalized and rationalized EU can be an important part of this new world.