Europe's identity crises.

This is a part of an article by the late Michael Radu writing for the Foreign Policy Research Institute. I am not a big fan of his as he falls into the hysteria category I have previously blogged about. In the quote below I get the impression that he does not understand what we Euopeans call "devolution" enough to apprecaite it. Nevertheless, he makes some interesting observations here on European identity. I would love to know your thoughts on what he says:

"Europe, as a whole, is going through a clear identity crisis at both national and individual levels. Politically, the nation-state—which Europe invented and which largely explains both its past political, cultural, military, and technological triumphs as well as the totalitarian disasters of the twentieth century—is under persistent attack. It is threatened from above by supranational, largely unelected elite and bureaucratic forces, primarily the European Union and its associated institutions; and from below by the rise of regionalism and micro-nationalisms (Basque, Catalan, Flemish, Scottish, etc.). In addition, it is also threatened by a general loss of national culture and traditions in favor of an undefined "multiculturalism." Multiculturalism, however, is not a policy, a doctrine, or an ideology. Brussels is quite effective in diluting national identities, but what has it to offer in exchange? "Tolerance"? "Europeanness"? Obviously, it is impoverished, which is why its Constitutional Treaty was rejected by both the least nationally conscious Europeans and the most—the Dutch and the French. Do not even ask the Poles, Balts, or Romanians what they think of "post-nationalism."