Although the reconstruction of Europe presents what is probably the greatest challenge to the intelligence of our generation, the literature on the subject is as yet surprisingly thin. Up to this war, Europe was the centre of gravity of world affairs. The old continent has lost this role of leadership. Politically it will represent a “vacuum of power,” as General Smuts pointed out in his remarkable address to the Empire Parliamentary Association; economically it will also be thrown off balance to such an extent that its rehabilitation will largely depend on extra-continental forces, on the policies of the three great world powers who will be the trustees of the new Europe. The shape of these policies of Great Britain, the United States and Soviet Russia has not yet been unfolded by the Allied leaders. This is one reason why the problem of European reconstruction at this stage defies a truly scientific analysis.