ned, less progressed, but ultimately more momentous political integration of Western Europe which has been accompanying this process.
This process has taken place, and continues to take place, in an environment almost wholly devoid of "newsworthy" events or even striking personalities. The fall of Communism at least had its arresting moments: the fall of the Berlin Wall, the abortive August coup. It also had dramatic personalities who have become familiar, at least as stereotypes, to American viewers of TV news: Mikhail Gorbachev, the elegant statesman; Boris Yeltsin, the gruff, brave ward healer.
By contrast, European integration is something that seems to take place in nondescript rooms where nondescript personalities sit around tables. The one place where American news readers are most likely to hear about "Europe 1992" is in the business pages, where it is mainly a matter of anxiety regarding Europe wide "protectionism" on the one hand, and enhanced competition from an integrated Europe on the other.
Most Americans probably do not know that s
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