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In this springtime of summits, Europe is at it again. Today in Prague, representatives from the European Union's 27 member-states meet with leaders of six former Soviet Socialist Republics to push forward a concept Brussels calls the Eastern Partnership "“ a cornerstone in the soft power strategy to build bridges, rhetorically at least, to Europe's east.

Or at least that was the plan back in March, when invitations to the Eastern Partnership summit were sent out. But the days since have been tumultuous ones in the territories of the six eastern invitees. Whatever its genesis in the minds of Brussels' Eurocrats, the Prague gathering highlights the limits of soft power in the face of hard realities.

The Prague agenda features a healthy serving of the usual...