Europe is hardly shrinking. The European project is far from perfect and the E.U. currently faces many challenges, from bolstering the euro, to creating a stronger presence in the international political arena. But I take issue with the article's premise that Europe is absent from the world stage — rather alarmingly illustrated by your cover page illustration.

How could it be possible that "the peaceful continent" and "the most generous donor of development aid in the world" fails to exist on the world stage? Its success in building "an attractive social, economic and political model" is no accident. It rose from a somber period in human history where war and death besieged civilization. It exists because hard and sometimes cantankerous work led to complex compromises.

Your article notes that Europeans have learned that the force of arms rarely settles political disputes for long. But it does not note that Europe spreads beyond E.U. borders. The Council of Europe encompasses some 800 million citizens, unified by a vision of human rights. Call it soft power if you like, but it exerts a strong and fruitful influence in every member state, from Russia to Turkey, to Iceland and Italy.

As President Obama struggles to pass healthcare reform in the U.S., Europe has worked hard to make health insurance part of "the basic social contract." The human-rights vision of the Council of Europe has also led to the abolition of the death penalty in all 47 member states. It has created monitoring mechanisms, such as our Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhumane or Degrading Treatment. Members of this committee regularly visit prisons or places of detention in all member states to check if governments are ill-treating prisoners or detainees. The Council of Europe campaigns to fight other injustices, from violence against women and children to discrimination against minorities such as the Roma.

It takes time for so many countries with so much history — and past conflict — to be able to speak with one foreign policy voice. Perhaps they never will. But one thing is certain: Europeans have learned that to live together peacefully, many points of view need to co-exist. That may be interpreted as presenting a less-than-robust political presence on the world's stage, but, in my opinion, it shows the richness that makes up the European identity, which is plainly prominent on the world stage.