Europeans Are Choosing Recession at the Risk of Putting Democracy to a Critical Test.

A choice that is both courageous and perilous.

Europe will probably not escape the recession. If money is the sinews of war, energy is the condition for production. By closing the gas tap, Vladimir Putin's Russia is condemning European manufacturers to reduce their activity. Soaring prices are reducing purchasing power, which will weigh on consumption and therefore on demand. The jump in the energy …