The Irish rejection of the Lisbon treaty has resulted in the reappearance of profound pessimism. Political Europe is obliged once again to call a halt. The cliché states that Europe is distant from its citizens, that it no longer has the mission or the spirit of its founding fathers. If however one looks outside the continent, one observes that the EU project has become a model for many, from the Arab world to Africa and all the way to South East Asia. The citizens of the Old Continent often take the EU for granted and not many would be ready to state that they are proud to be Europeans. Philosopher Tzvetan Todorov is however one of them and he explains why to Resetdoc.