Delivering a speech to a group of Belgian businessmen this year, Barack Obama warned about the dangers of artificial intelligence, climate change and geopolitical conflict. In what is billed as the largest election year in human history, with about half of the planet heading to polls, Belgium cuts a rather inconspicuous figure. For all its singularity, Belgium tells a quintessentially European story. In Brussels, the seat of the European Union, rising crime, pollution and decaying infrastructure symbolize a continent in decline. With unusual clarity, Belgium shows what Europe has become in the 21st century: a continent subject to history rather than driving it.

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Persons: Barack Obama, Obama wouldn’t Organizations: Magritte Museum, European Union Locations: Belgian, Belgium, Brussels, Europe, Flanders