On the superfluity of nations

"Name a famous Belgian" is one question that is usually unanswerable, whereas "Name a famous Dutchman" is ... Well, Rembrandt for one.

Hercule Poirot is fictitious, Rene Magritte is not as famous as Rembrandt, nor is King Leopold, the genocidal colonizer of the Congo. Flemish artists like Rubens or Breughel do not count as Belgian since it did not exist until 1830.

Will the U.K. go the way of Belgium ?... Many Scots feel they might as well deal with the EU directly and the First Minister of the Scots Assembly is a Nationalist (though in a minority Government). They why not Wales, Northern Ireland, Catalonia, the Basque provinces of Spain, Lombardy, and the many residual isolated minorities of Eastern Europe (e.g. the Hungarian parts of Romania)?

Personally, I think these centrifugal movements will come up short, like Quebec in Canada. Despite the cultural differences, the Parti Quebecois could not must the 50%+ necessary to carry secession. And is 50.000001% of the electorate enough to establish a new "nation", not just a new state?

If the state cannot command the allegiance of a pretty clear national majority, then it is better off being conservative and leaving things as they are. The problem for Belgium is agreeing in which state Brussels will lie, if they get to that point.

Who knew anybody, much less the Economist had an opinion on whether or not Belgium should exist?

How about the 10 million Belgians? Contrary to what the Economist claims, we are not indifferent to the future of our country.

Anyway, the secession of Flanders is not quite as imminent as some people outside Belgium think. It will happen eventually, but not quite yet.

Well... there's also Justine Henin, the best female tennis player in the world.