Disunited, the EU member states can only look on as the international situation deteriorates to their disadvantage because of the crisis in Iraq. The three pillars on which the old order rested–the UN with its rules on collective security, the Atlantic Alliance and the EU–have been seriously shaken. In particular, Europe has been notably absent from the restructuring of the international system, but not because it lacks the means: what is absent is Europe’s will to regain its place in the world. To reach that goal the only solution is to pool its forces; that alone will allow Europe to play its role in a world that becomes more multipolar with each day that passes.