A dead or resuscitated alliance? Let's be modest about it. The very same day that I invited readers not to pay excessive heed to the proliferation of announcements of bilateral or trilateral alliances between EU countries (see this heading of 21 February), two major European dailies gave diametrically opposed interpretations of how the Franco-German couple is evolving. A front page article in "Le Figaro" announced the "death of the Franco-German engine". In just as eye-catching a position,...