Mark Leonard, Combine and Concquer. The EU is “the world’s first viral political space”. It’s a diverse network which spreads “by stealth” – by creating standards for national institutions to implement, and for non-EU governments to adopt to get access to the European market. “The strength of the EU […] is broad and deep: Once sucked into its sphere of influence, countries are changed forever. Europe is a state of mind that cannot be contained by traditional boundaries.” (Part of the Wired special issue I mentioned.)