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President Nicolas Sarkozy responded to claims that the EU was a paper tiger by taking credit for the Russia-Georgia ceasefire and Moscow’s partial troop withdrawal: It “is the only body which can solve the situation and is able to help Georgia.” But the limits of this approach are obvious. The EU will be able to “solve the situation” only if the Georgia and Russia are willing to solve it. The EU lacks the foreign and military policy tools to compel anyone anywhere to do anything, one reason people like Sarkozy are pushing consolidation through Lisbon. However, as the group Open Europe points out, “The Lisbon Treaty allows majority voting on foreign policy proposals from the Foreign Minister.” Would the emergency summit have turned out any differently had this been the procedure? There was no majority for tough action, ready to override the dissenters to ensure effective cooperation. http://www.takimag.com/2209/