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The Centre for European Reform's Tomas Valasek said that some NATO members in Central Europe could see the removal of the US gravity bombs as "a unilateral step taken by their big Western allies that puts Russia's concerns ahead of theirs ... so it will be a divisive question."

Today Hugo Brady, one of the senior researchers at the Centre for European Reform, a wildly pro-EU think tank in Brussels, put out a fantasy history 'published in 2070' of what a 2010 coalition government of Cameron-Clegg meant for Europe… Brady goes on with fantasies of closer British-French ties on defence and common rules across the EU on corporate taxation, then a new treaty to establish a centrally-managed euro zone treasure fund equal to 3 percent of EU GDP - and on it goes, though the list of all the powers of which eurocrats dream.

"France and Germany's stance is to extend regulation in previously unregulated entities," said Philip Whyte of the Centre for European Reform in London. "The US and UK priority is to make sure we revise the way banks are regulated."

Simon Tilford, chief economist of the Centre for European Reform, put such breakdowns in the category of "inconveniences" rather than "an existential threat," even under the worst-case scenario. "There's no doubt it would be very disruptive if it went on for that long. But I don't believe, unless it was a complete blanket on civilian air travel, that the impact on the economy will be that grave." he said. "Europe is not a particularly trade-dependent economy," said Tilford.

Democratisation and reform are badly needed but Erdogan is going about it the wrong way, said Katinka Barysch of the Centre for European Reform. "A changing Turkey needs a new system of checks and balances … Nevertheless, the system that now seems to be emerging is flawed," she wrote. Erdogan's reforms "smack of political manoeuvring and could discredit the process of constitutional renewal" while the established opposition parties "lack a vision for a modern, dynamic Turkey".

"The problem now is he's in charge of an institution which is supposed to be the guardian of the euro, but a lot of the decisions that are going to affect the future of the single currency are out of his hands," says Philip Whyte, senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform, a pro-European think tank based in London.

Simon Tilford, chief economist at the London based Centre for European Reform, says the effect of the package may be limited to merely delaying Greek insolvency. "It doesn't address the fundamental concerns, it doesn't address the causes of the underlying problems within the euro zone, but it certainly addresses the immediate threat of insolvency in Greece," he says.

"A shared tragedy of this sort could give a boost to further improvement in Polish-Russian relations, which ... were on the mend," said Tomas Valasek of the Centre for European Reform. "This tragedy might accelerate that trend."

"It is clear that the financial crisis and the cutbacks have forced countries to ask themselves some difficult questions," said Clara O'Donnell, a defence specialist with the Centre for European Reform. "Should they specialise themselves? Should they cooperate?" ... "Until recently, the UK was able to maintain armed forces that were prepared for all tasks imaginable," O'Donnell said. "Now the financial problem has become so pressing that people have to face up to the fact some tasks may have to be abandoned altogether.