The euro zone crisis rumbles on. Just when European policymakers reach a semblance of consensus, further twists emerge, rendering each action one step behind the rapidly unfolding events.
At a recent meeting of the Integrating Global Society Priority Group at the University of Nottingham, several academics warned that European policymakers are unlikely to resolve the crisis without the assistance of non-European states. What role then, if any, will the major powers outside of Europe be prepared to play?
For all the talk of globalisation and integration, awareness of the global reach of a full-blown euro crisis is not sufficient to galvanise a global effort to pre-empt it. The political barriers to American or Chinese intervention are high and few other countries have the capacity to make a significant contribution.
China has become a disenchanted supporter of the European Union. Its criticism of the EU focuses on the region's perceived pursuit of policies designed to secure short-term gain at the expense of long-term security.
It does not accept that developing countries should subsidise wealthy Europeans for their extravagant and irresponsible lifestyles. China sees the EU's commitment to unsustainable entitlement programmes, namely generous pension schemes and unemployment benefits, as prime examples of this, blaming them for the erosion of the region's economic efficiency and competitiveness.
And the Chinese government is yet to be truly persuaded that common global interests are sufficient for China to risk its hard-earned reserves to bail out the euro zone.
