Europe has not been so weak and divided for a long time. Buffeted by a succession of crises, it has shown a strong collective survival instinct but a poor capacity to deliver. In times when the tectonic plates are shifting and tension between global markets and national democracies is rising, can Europe hold together, under what termsand indeed for what purpose? The euro crisis has left big scars and is not over yet. Economic divergence has
grown between and within countries, leading in turn to political fragmentation and the rise of populism. And growth remains slow, fragile, and uneven. Europe is in a bind: it is
difficult to go forwards and scary to go backwards. In between, it is an unhappy and unstable state of affairs. Looking further afield, a more assertive Russia and an imploding neighbourhood may not even allow Europe the luxury to decline in grace. A convinced European and familiar with the world of Brussels, Loukas Tsoukalis is critical of the way Europe has handled its multiple crises in recent years. He addresses the key issues and difficult choices facing Europe
today. Can Europe collectively manage globalization, combine growth with inclusive societies, and reconcile its apparent yearning for soft power with the often hard reality of the world outside?
Individual countries cannot handle these challenges on their own. While knowing full well the difficulties in reaching a common European stance, Tsoukalis is also acutely aware of the consequences of failure.
Europe has not been so weak and divided for a long time. Buffeted by a succession of crises, it has shown a strong collective survival instinct but a poor capacity to deliver. In times when the tectonic plates are shifting and tension between global markets and national democracies is rising, can Europe hold together, under what termsand indeed for what purpose? The euro crisis has left big scars and is not over yet. Economic divergence has
grown between and within countries, leading in turn to political fragmentation and the rise of populism. And growth remains slow, fragile, and uneven. Europe is in a bind: it is
difficult to go forwards and scary to go backwards. In between, it is an unhappy and unstable state of affairs. Looking further afield, a more assertive Russia and an imploding neighbourhood may not even allow Europe the luxury to decline in grace. A convinced European and familiar with the world of Brussels, Loukas Tsoukalis is critical of the way Europe has handled its multiple crises in recent years. He addresses the key issues and difficult choices facing Europe
today. Can Europe collectively manage globalization, combine growth with inclusive societies, and reconcile its apparent yearning for soft power with the often hard reality of the world outside?
Individual countries cannot handle these challenges on their own. While knowing full well the difficulties in reaching a common European stance, Tsoukalis is also acutely aware of the consequences of failure.
1: High Stakes
2: Bigger, More intrusive, and Less Inclusive
3: Reality Strikes Back
4: 1. Whose Rules and Whose Adjustment?
5: The Priest, the Sinner, and the Non-Believer
6: Still Holding Together, But...
7: Difficult Choices
Notes
Index
Loukas Tsoukalis is Professor of European Integration at the
University of Athens and President of the Hellenic Foundation for
European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP), the main Greek think tank on
European and foreign policy. He has taught at many of the top
universities around Europe, including Oxford, the London School of
Economics, and the College of Europe. He has also held visiting
professorships at Sciences Po in Paris, the European University
Institute in
Florence, and King's College, London. In 2016, he was Pierre Keller
Visiting Professor at Harvard University. The author of many books
on European integration and international political economy, he
habitually crosses the boundary between economics and politics,
theory and policy, and is familiar with the Brussels world, having
served as special adviser to the former President of the European
Commission. A public intellectual, he has for long been actively
engaged in the European policy debate.
`This volume by a leading scholar of European integration could not
be timelier... The analysis of the political, economic and social
causes and consequences of the crisis is sharp and all of the key
factors are identified and discussed. [It] does not shy away from
the big questions of integration. This is one of the great
strengths of the volume ... [that] finds its roots in an older
literature on the EU that sought to understand the nature of
the
beast.'
Brigid Laffan, Director of the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced
Studies, European University Institute, Florence in Journal of
Common Market Studies
`An inexorable analysis. An eye opener, a heart cry from a true
European.'
Herman van Rompuy, former President of the European Council
`A deeply insightful book.'
Enrico Letta, former Prime Minister of Italy
`Unflinching realismmasterly integration of economic and political
analyses.'
Fritz W. Scharpf, Max Planck Institute
`As ever thoughtful and thought-provoking, Loukas Tsoukalis prompts
us to re-examine the fundamentals of contemporary European
integration.'
Dame Helen Wallace
|
Ask a Question About this Product More... |
|
