Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Surveys the relations between European countries in the aftermath of the Cold War and argues that factional conflict will prevent economic security and political stability.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Library Journal Review

From a Brookings correspondent and U.S. State Department consultant: the portrait of a continent that threatens to self-destruct. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Publishers Weekly Review

Focusing on Germany, France and Britain, but also dipping into what he calls "the troubled Mediterranean," Newhouse (War and Peace in the Nuclear Age) finds a lack of direction bordering on chaos just about everywhere in Europe. The Cold War, he argues, had a positive effect on Western Europe in that it unified the various countries under the umbrella of American protection and gave them a common enemy, if not a common purpose. With the fall of the Berlin Wall, that unity is gone, as is any realistic hope of a strong European political union, and a common currency‘if it ever happens‘will prove to be harmful, Newhouse contends, because the "single-minded campaign" to promote the conversion could sidetrack negotiations over the enlargement of the European Monetary Union. Germany is now the major European nation, with France and Britain becoming increasingly less important, but Germany itself remains "two divided societies." Newhouse notes that the specter of rampant organized crime haunts the entire continent, while the Western nations seem unwilling or unable to manage events on their very doorsteps (Yugoslavia, for example, and the simmering conflict between Greece and Turkey). Meanwhile, a weak Russia, unable to control its nuclear weapons supply, seems to be becoming a bigger threat than the U.S.S.R. had been. A skillful hands-on reporter, Newhouse has gone into the field and has reached well beyond an academic's well-stocked library. He is also a provocative writer who provides much controversy here. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

CHOICE Review

Newhouse presents the European Union and its potential members as countries that have lost their sense of direction. Outside of such issues as the single currency question, little of Europe's evolution holds relevance in people's lives. This lack derives from the petty squabbling of bureaucrats, the impotence of national leaders, and the old fires of nationalism, which smolder in the background. Newhouse (a guest scholar at the Brookings Institution and a consultant to the US State Department) provides an interesting discussion of each cause. The puzzle is determining how much weight to give to various elements. For example, if Germany's Chancellor Kohl is growing politically weaker yet no challenger has emerged, does Kohl's decline matter? Second, does the lack of popular interest show a lack of trust, or the lack of a major crisis to galvanize popular passions? The drift may signal something far more innocuous than the book's title suggests. A collection of notes, a bibliography of books cited, and an index provide valuable tools for people looking for specific references. Libraries might also consider David M. Wood and Birol A. Yesilada, The Emerging European Union (CH, May'96), which introduces more of the structure and assesses the relative impact of these problems. Newhouse's book is accessible to both general and academic readers at any level. J. H. P. Williams; East Carolina University

Booklist Review

Addressing the whither Europe question, Newhouse discusses post-cold war trends. A veteran journalist, Newhouse expounds on political and business figures, of whom the most optimistic ones are not, as one might assume, those promoting a single currency and an expanded European Union. The future is brightest to leaders of such economically dynamic regions as Barcelona, Milan, or Lyons--places psychologically apart from their national capitals. The capitals seem stuck, unable to alleviate high unemployment. Still, the national governments chug along, and Newhouse trenchantly points out the inertia that impels their stances on monetary union. Britain remains ever equivocal, when self-interest recommends getting in at the beginning; France, as usual, thinks it deserves a bigger leadership role than it gets; and Germany gets exasperated at bearing the biggest financial load in the union. Examining a continent in a funk, Newhouse brings experience and insight to explaining the problems inherent in making a single currency the solution to complicated political and security problems. --Gilbert Taylor

Kirkus Book Review

A veteran correspondent's bleak appraisal of the state of the European Union on the eve of a new millennium. Drawing largely on his own reportage and on statistical data, Newhouse (War and Peace in the Nuclear Age, 1988, etc.) reviews the many ways in which the alliance founded in 1957 as the Common Market has been marking time rather than advancing during the postCold War era. For example, citing the emergence of economic powerhouses at the local level (which stoutly resist the regulatory excesses of bureaucratic Brussels), he speculates that the EU could one day resemble the Hanseatic League to the extent that it was comprised of semiautonomous regions (Bavaria, Spanish Catalonia, northern Italy, et al.) rather than nation-states. The author (now a guest scholar at the Brookings Institution) goes on to assess the obstacles still impeding the integration of East and West Germany, the reluctance of Paris to accept the dominion of Berlin in continental affairs, and the oddly disinterested role played by the UK in the confederation's business. Covered as well are the 15- member coalition's hesitancy to acknowledge that expansion (not a chimerical monetary union) is job number one; the comparatively low priority accorded security; the cultural differences that continue to divide a putatively united Europe; and the reality (confirmed by the area's inability to respond decisively to conflicts in the Balkans) that America remains Europe's keeper--and its pre-eminent power. Newhouse also casts a cold eye on Germany's disinclination to provide an errant Europe with either entrepreneurial or political direction, and the impact of recent elections (in France, the UK, and elsewhere) on the ruinously expensive welfare policies of most member nations. An illuminating audit of the credits and debits amassed by the decidedly strange bedfellows constituting today's EU. (Author tour; radio satellite tour)