We are a little less ashamed of being European. For a long time, the tendency was for self-flagellation: Europe had to apologise for everything, for its history, for its past conquests, even for its civilisation. Not trying to hide the dark episodes, that's one thing; feeling guilty for everything, that's grotesque. At the moment, Europe is taking the reins of two huge international initiatives which the whole world has, to a greater or lesser extent, been calling for as essential: combating...