Sovereign Debt - what happens next?

Here's some excellent historical context on the present sovereign woes and what is likely to happen next.  Gloomy conclusion:

Europe is facing defaults—several, probably. The euro zone can survive them if it moves aggressively to prepare for them. But the longer it pretends that defaults aren't inevitable, the more likely it is to face another period of financial chaos and hardship.

A separate point, but I don't think any magazine is better at summarising complex issues in brief plain words than The Economist.  This column is a classic of the art.