Rethinking Europe's Future (Century Foundation Book)

By David Calleo and David P. Calleo

Book Overview

Rethinking Europe's Future is a major reevaluation of Europe's prospects as it enters the twenty-first century. David Calleo has written a book worthy of the complexity and grandeur of the challenges Europe now faces. Summoning the insights of history, political economy, and philosophy, he explains why Europe was for a long time the world's greatest problem and how the Cold War's bipolar partition brought stability of a sort. Without the Cold War, Europe risks revisiting its more traditional history. With so many contingent factors--in particular Russia and Europe's Muslim neighbors--no one, Calleo believes, can pretend to predict the future with assurance. Calleo's book ponders how to think about this future.

The book begins by considering the rival ''lessons'' and trends that emerge from Europe's deeper past. It goes on to discuss the theories for managing the traditional state system, the transition from autocratic states to communitarian nation states, the enduring strength of nation states, and their uneasy relationship with capitalism. Calleo next focuses on the Cold War's dynamic legacies for Europe--an Atlantic Alliance, a European Union, and a global economy. These three systems now compete to define the future.

The book's third and major section examines how Europe has tried to meet the present challenges of Russian weakness and German reunification. Succeeding chapters focus on Maastricht and the Euro, on the impact of globalization on Europeanization, and on the EU's unfinished business--expanding into ''Pan Europe, '' adapting a hybrid constitution, and creating a new security system. Calleo presents three models of a new Europe--each proposing a different relationship with the U.S. and Russia. A final chapter probes how a strong European Union might affect the world and the prospects for American hegemony. This is a beautifully written book that offers rich insight into a critical moment in our history, whose outcome will shape the world long after our time.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 069111367X
• ISBN13: 9780691113678
• Release Date: March 2003
• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Length: 416 Pages
• Weight: 1.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.0" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Book Review: Rethinking Europe's Future

In his book, Rethinking Europe?s Future, David P. Calleo encapsulates the history, theory, and reasoning behind Europe?s struggle for peaceful inter-state relations and presents new ideas for Europe?s future course. In three parts, encompassing sixteen chapters, he covers a wide variety of topics from economic theory, international relations theory, to history and the role of complex inter-dependence. Of note is his discourse on the past, present, and future of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, NATO, and the European Union?s (EU?s) quest for a Common Foreign and Security Policy, CFSP. Furthermore, his work is strongly supported by many past, and recent, historical case studies that impacted Europe?s course, and still linger in the minds of present day decision- makers.Part 1, Europe?s Living History, covers the gambit of Europe?s violent history from the wars of Napoleon and German Unification, through World War I and II. In this part, Calleo outlines the multi-faceted causes of Europe?s most violent wars and relates them to economics, and to both the development and implementation of international-relations theory nested within economic theory. This is a truly remarkable feat, as well as a good review of both economic and basic international relations theory, as it is written in a manner that a novice could follow. Part 2, Legacies of the Cold War, outlines, as the title implies, the interstate system that developed in the after-math of World War II, as well as explores the development of NATO and the role of Unites States (US) hegemony in both European and global affairs. To this end, the author discusses in detail the effects of bi-polar action, America vs. the Soviet Union, as well as the effects of globalization on both Europe and the world political economy. He then synthesizes these into a very coherent concluding chapter, Cold War Lessons, Old and New. Of note in this chapter, is Calleo?s discourse on Gaullist policy and decision-making, and the fact that in the present day EU, state sovereignty is stronger because of the Gaullist legacy.Part 3, The New Europe, covers old, as well as new paradigms for the future Europe, as well as the role of the US and Russia within them. As with most contemporary authors, he asserts that not one paradigm, but multiple paradigms, must be applied to discern Europe?s future, as well as the future of NATO (in particular the US) and Russia in regards to both Europe and Asia. To this end, he asserts that Europe must make accord with both the US (NATO) and Russia, and that the US must redefine its involvement within European affairs, as well as with Russia and Asia. Furthermore, the EU, Russia, and the US must find some common policy in dealing with Asia (China, in particular) that encompasses both security and economic affairs.In short, Rethinking Europe?s Future is a powerful book that synthesizes the writings of many scholars into a short and easily understandable work that is both nested