In Debt Crisis, Europe's Latest Drama, Leaders Are Offstage.

WASHINGTON -- With new European Union leaders practically invisible and some national leaders acting largely for domestic political reasons, the burden of shaping a rapid and credible restructuring program for Greece has fallen primarily to the International Monetary Fund -- exactly where proud European Union leaders had insisted it should not be. Once again -- as during the 2008 financial crisis and the more recent halt in European air traffic due to volcanic ash -- European leaders have failed to surmount national interests and cobble together a coherent policy quickly enough to address a problem. In the process, they may have done permanent damage to the credibility of the European Union. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]