Why Europe Will Run the 21st Century

Some interesting ideas here - Europe operates as a network of countries rather than a power-house or federation of states; it attracts adherents to "join its club", and hence expands outwards by influence rather than domination; and all countries share the same core objectives: commitment to unilateral action; democrary, human rights and the international rule of law; and negotiation and engagement rather than military force (p. 32). I can't say the writing is the best - some is repetitive, and it's a bit disorganized. But, overall, the ideas are of interest. The end result - nation-states, operating since the mid-1400s, when Florence, Rome, Naples, Venice and Milan dominated the Italian peninsula (p.26), have been superseded by show more regional alliances, and the EU leads the way. It's premise and practices show us how to negotiate this new territory. So, it behooves us to understand what's happening... show less

http://nhw.livejournal.com/922824.html

Leonard's short book is a positive polemic - an assertion that the EU model is not only stable and viable, but that it will prove infectious and beneficial to the rest of the world. He tackles the economics as well, arguing that the demographic crisis is much less grave than some fear, and that the euro will prove a magnet. He writes of the "Eurosphere", the European, Middles Eastern and African states which he believes will naturally look to the EU as their geopolitical centre of gravity, especially as US influence recedes. It's an attractive vision, the kind of thing I always chide Commission officials for failing to produce. One can quibble with the details (eg on Macedonia, where in one brief show more paragraph he doesn't quite get the sequence of events straight) but the overall thrust of the argument is attractive. Since writing the book, Leonard has been made the head of a new think-tank promoting precisely these ideas. show less