In a paper last year for the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, Robert Cooper, a veteran British diplomat and European official, said insisted that a currency is too important to be left to technocrats, arguing also that politics must be allowed its space.

WSJ: It Pays to Be Flexible in Euro-Crisis Fight

"It's like one in a million, the mayor to get your family out, " said Robert Cooper, 20, who is Hodge's nephew.

CNN: STORY HIGHLIGHTS