Belgium's division: European (dis)Union a trend?

Another Belgium break up op-ed piece, this time from Greenway of the Boston Globe via International Herald Tribune.

Greenway hits the right note, nailing foreign discomfort and confusion with the issue:

"Americans are used to the map of Europe being redrawn, but most thought that was just for the former Communist countries of the East. Therefore headlines such as "Political Impasse May Break Up Belgium" come as a shock. We thought Western Europe, especially the little cluster of a half-dozen or so monarchies in the northwest corner, were immune to such turmoil. After all, isn't this the age of European integration? And isn't Brussels the capital of the new Europe?"

Even more interestingly, Greenway nods to the broader theme of nationalist movements in established countries, particularly Scotland, Wales and Quebec.

Since having spent more time living in Europe it has struck me how many separatist movements actually exist. In Scotland, the Scottish Nationalist Party are installed as head of the executive. In Wales, Labour was forced to form a coalition with Plaid Cymru (who aim for Welsh independence). Recently, in this London Times piece, it is even suggested that Northern Ireland may be harboring similar sentiments, given that Sinn Fein is part of the Northern Ireland administration. And of course at the other (extreme) end of the specturm, in Spain there are Basque nationalists, a movement pursued by the terrorist group ETA.

These movements are not always just hypotheticals and political curiosities.
The troubled Balkans, face the prospect of Kosovo's independence from Serbia, a movement the US and EU have agreed to recognize. Unlike the previous examples, this is not mere speculation. President Sarkozy of France has stated that "Kosovo's independence is unavoidable in the long term".

Is this just a series of coincidences, as I suspect, or could it be part of a larger trend of unwinding Nationalism? Are these genuine cultural and historic disputes which cannot be resolved, or are they merely transient reflections of a declining confidence in their national government's ability to recognize their individual identity and local needs?

Regardless, what will be the consequences of a series of international separatist movements in these 'established' Western countries? Would support of local separatists, such as the UK allowing referendums for Scottish independence, create complications in relations with countries fighting their own separatist movements: think Russia and Chechnya, Iraq and the Kurds, even Israel and Palestine.

As always, comments appreciated.

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Belgium = Bizzaro World

The Belgians are well known for their surrealists (such as Magritte, see (my altered) image to the right). But today I experienced a strong moment of Belgian surreality myself.

I'm fine with most forms of culture shock. I can cope with foreign currencies and exchange rates. I've eaten any food offered to me (raw fish, offal, chicken feet). I've been understanding about political differences. I've dealt with differing national standards for personal hygiene. But today in Brussels I was floored by a common cultural reference.

In life, there are frequently "Seinfeld Moments". Moments that reflect, for better or worse, episodes in this classic TV sitcom. (I am not making this up. See here and here...)

As a result, one form of communication within my age bracket is the "Seinfeld Reference". Often, one may use a Seinfeld reference to communicate a whole bundle of sentiments relating to the (often ridiculous) situation you are in.

My Example
So, the other day I purchased a business shirt and the salesman convinced me that it would look fine. Of course, it was too blousy and large, and it made me look ridiculous. At work I commented that it was like the "Puffy shirt" from Seinfeld (a classic episode, a similar situation) only to be met by blank faces.

I thought they may have forgotten the episode, so I reminded the Belgians of the episode where Jerry was forced to wear the puffy shirt after failing to hear Kramer's "low-talking" girlfriend. He nodded politely, and only later learned that he agreed to wear the shirt on national TV.

To my horror, the response was "What is Seinfeld?"


Please, someone tell me this was just an unlucky statistical sample - surely Europeans did not miss the entire contribution to the human experience that was Seinfeld?

Even the Washington Post, a mainstream journal of record, understands my reference:

The Puffy Shirt made him all puffed out, made him look like a buccaneer, like someone who should, as Elaine put it, "swing in on a chandelier." It made Jerry wail: "But I don't want to be a pirate!"

So, is Europe a bizzaro world deceptively similar to our own, the same in most respects except that it lacks the concept of "Seinfeld"?

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Waiting for the punchline...

I know you're thinking it... "would anyone really miss it"?
Even for a country accustomed to being the butt of jokes, you can sense that Belgians are becoming increasingly self-conscious and uncomfortable with its current state of affairs. For the last 100+ days, I've been watching and waiting as Belgium has failed to form a government in the wake of the (recent?) elections.

With the seat of European Union government based in the Belgian capital of Brussels, one can only wonder how this disunity is playing abroad. If Brussels can't hold it's own country together, what does this say for the expanding union of European nations!

The story has started to pick up international coverage, with the Herald Tribune recently chiming in:

"...the back story of this flat country of 10.4 million is of a bad marriage writ large - two nationalities living together that cannot stand each other. Now, more than three months after a general election, Belgium has failed to create a government, producing a crisis so profound that it has led to a flood of warnings, predictions, even promises that the country is about to disappear."

The Economist even cheekily suggested that it might be "time to call it a day".

The split could be descibed as cultural, as it exists between the Flemish speaking north (Flanders) and the French speaking southern region (Walloonia). As with most political schisms, history and economics play their role as well. Walloonia has seen its fortunes decline as its mining industry gradually closed shop, a jarring contrast with the strong economy of Flanders.

Up until the past week, I had been willing to dismiss this as another game of regional political brinksmanship which would resolve itself after the requisite posturing and speech making.

100 days without a national government, however, and what was once a joke no longer seems quite so amusing...

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