EDITORIAL: "The bill that could break up Europe: If eastern Europe goes down, it may take the European Union with it," The Economist, 28 February 2009.

BRIEFING: "Ex-communist economies: The whiff of contagion; Eastern Europe's woes are not unmanageable. But they are not being managed. The result could be catastrophe," The Economist, 28 February 2009.

The economic crisis just puts an exclamation point on the now, seemingly small events in the Caucasus: the EU ain't expanding any further east and will be lucky to stay coherent with the crew they've already absorbed.

When times were good, the absorption seemed a good deal. Now comes the harder part, especially when you're talking about relatively immature political systems without a long history of pluralism.