He tackles the big issues past and present, such as the formation of the Hanseatic League, set up to organise maritime trade, the slave ships which trafficked 11m Africans across the ocean between the 15th and the 19th centuries and the recent collapse of the cod fisheries.

ECONOMIST: The Atlantic Ocean

In drawing such north-south comparisons, there is a danger of falling into stereotypes and romanticising, say, Germany's influence through the old Hanseatic League.

ECONOMIST: Charlemagne: Latvian lessons | The