Paris—A hot best seller in France is a curious little work that likely says more than the deepest political commentary about the state of mind in today's Europe, especially this nation that still considers itself—reality perhaps notwithstanding—the heart and soul of the continent. The book is titled Vous N'aurez Pas le Dernier Mot (You Won't Have the Last Word), and its authors are the writer-actor Jean Piat, of the Comédie Française, and Patrick Wajsman, the founding editor of Politique Internationale. Subtitled “a lighthearted anthology of the sweetest repartées,” it seems to have touched a chord this year in a Europe swept by discord, where repartée has taken to the streets—often quite violently—and parliaments are debating how best to reduce expectations.

The fact is that Europe is very much going its own way—at times, it seems, a host of different ways. European military forces, even those nations...

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