Like war, economic upheaval forces the pace of change in international relations. It redistributes power, making some countries more influential, and others less so. It rains blow after blow on established mechanisms of international co-operation and ultimately redesigns them.

All these processes are at work in the European Union. Among the EU's 27 member states, particularly among the 16 that share the euro, the financial crisis is bringing to the fore the central importance of Germany.

If the eurozone emerges from the crisis relatively unharmed, it will be thanks to Germany's economic strength and its readiness to take emergency action, if necessary, to protect the euro area against the threat of disintegration.

But the crisis is also accelerating longer-term changes in the balance of power among the EU's three main institutions - the European Commission, the European Council (which represents national governments) and the European parliament.