The Enlargement of the European Union and NATO: Ordering from the Menu in Central Europe

Book Description

In 2004 the European Union and NATO each added ten new member states, most from the post-communist countries of Eastern and Central Europe. In order to qualify for membership, these countries had to make a myriad of changes. They often emulated practices common in Western Europe, sometimes resulting in more effective and efficient institutions, sometimes resulting in failures. Wade Jacoby examines the trends in various fields and in several countries.

Governing in Europe: Effective and Democratic?

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Governing in Europe: Effective and Democratic?
Fritz W. Scharpf
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
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Binding: Paperback

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Dilemmas of European Integration: The Ambiguities and Pitfalls of Integration by Stealth
The Choice for Europe: Social Purpose and State Power from Messina to Maastricht (Cornell Studies in Political Economy)

ASIN: 0198295464

Book Description

The problem-solving capacity, and hence the democratic legitimacy, of national governments is being weakened by the dual processes of legal and economic integration in Europe; and the loss is not fully compensated by the development of effective and legitimate problem-solving capabilities at the European level. Professor Scharpf supports his position by examining the normative underpinnings of democratic legitimacy and by a detailed analysis of the structural asymmetry between the effectiveness of the legal instruments of `negative integration' which prevents governments from interfering with the free movements of goods, services, capital, and persons and the political constraints impeding positive political action at the European level. This is particularly true for policies pertaining to the welfare state. Governing in Europe explores strategies at the national level that could succeed in maintaining welfare state goals even under conditions of international economic competition, and it also discusses the conditions under which European policy could play a protective and enabling role with regard to these national solutions. The author suggests that if these opportunities should be used, multi-level governance in Europe could indeed regain both effectiveness and legitimacy.

Britain For and Against Europe: British Politics and the Question of European Integration

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Britain For and Against Europe: British Politics and the Question of European Integration

Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
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Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0198280785

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This study, by a host of leading experts, provides the most up-to-date analysis of the often problematic relationship between various elements of British political culture and the developing European Union. The book opens with a general review of the history of this relationship since 1950, by Andrew Gamble. This is followed by ten chapters by other leading researchers, each examining a particular aspect of the relationship, including the view of Britain from Europe, the attitudes of Labour, Conservative, and Liberal Democratic parties, the Scottish and Welsh Nationalist parties, the Trade Unions, Business, the Civil Service, and the media. The study concludes with a review of the findings of these chapters, and a discussion of their implications for future relations between Britain and her European partners.

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Book Review: The Ribirth of Europe
upbeat assessment of European integration

The Rebirth of Europe
Elizabeth Pond
Manufacturer: Brookings Institution Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Understanding the European Union: A Concise Introduction, Third Edition (European Union)
The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism
The Walls Came Tumbling Down: The Collapse of Communism in Eastern Europe
Why We Need a New Welfare State
Rethinking Europe's Future (Century Foundation Book)

ASIN: 0815771592

Book Description

"A shrewd observer of Germany and eastern Europe, Pond has presented an informative overview of European affairs since 1989. . . . [A]n eminently readable account." - Foreign Affairs

"Veteran journalist Elizabeth Pond . . . sees a Europe that is doing well at overcoming 'impulses of nationalism, habit, and fear.' The Rebirth of Europe provides a thoughtful, fundamentally optimistic appraisal of the continent's prospects." - Dallas Morning News

"For many years Elizabeth Pond has been one of the most knowledgeable American experts on Europe. Her new book . . . is an impressive challenge to Europeans, as to Americans, to look ahead with optimism and to make the most of our common new opportunities." - Helmut Kohl, Chancellor of Germany, 1982-1998

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Book Review: The Ribirth of Europe.......2002-10-31

In her book, The Rebirth of Europe, Elizabeth Pond provides a great overview of the many issues and underlying dynamics facing the European Union (EU) and Europe, presently. In ten chapters, she encapsulates history, European and American perceptions, domestic politics, European Monetary Union (EMU), and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), as well as the European Strategic Defense Initiative (ESDI). Although she covers these and many other issues in-depth, she paints a rather optimistic future for both the EU and Europe without fully addressing the impact of certain salient underlying factors that she does touch on. These are domestic politics, nationalism, institutionalism, the modern social welfare state, as well as the trans-Atlantic defense capabilities gap.
In Chapters 1-5, Pond covers the evolution of Europe and the EU from very early history through the creation of the EMU. In doing this, she touches on a wide range of issues. Of note is her discourse on how the perceptions of Europe's bloody and fragmented past impact on both the modern European and American psyches. Furthermore, her work is exceedingly well documented and thorough, especially Chapter 4, Post-Cold War NATO. Her writings on NATO enlargement and ESDI are very much in synchronization with the current literature on these "hot" topics from a macro view.
Chapters 6-10 are also well done. They cover Central and Eastern Europe, the EMU, as well as ESDI and NATO in relation to current trans-Atlantic relations. However, the three-page Chapter 10, Epilogue, is rather weak for the concluding chapter of such a thoroughly encompassing and well-researched book. Additionally, it tends to contradict itself as Pond goes to great lengths summing up some of the significant pitfalls facing Europe and concludes with two very terse sentences: "Europe remains a work in-progress. So far, it seems condemned to succeed." Unfortunately, this is the problem with the entire book.

In Chapter 1, Pond states, "intellectually it is less risky to be pessimistic than to be optimistic." Thus, she seems determined, despite the fact that she, herself, addresses significant pitfalls facing the EU, Europe, and the trans-Atlantic relationship, determined to be unabashedly optimistic instead of cautiously optimistic, or even somewhat pessimistic. First, she addresses nationalism, in the form of the modern day Flemish and Wallonian separatists' movements in Belgium. These movements are spawned in large part due to taxes. (Modern day Flanders' carries the lion's share of the tax burden for the whole of Belgium.) Thus, when Pond discusses EU institutional enlargement, the high unemployment rates prevalent in Europe today, the need for the EU or European countries to upgrade their military capacity, and the EU Central Bank's unresponsiveness to some of these problems, she neglects to intermesh these fiscal issues with salient political or fiscal solutions that the reader can understand. Furthermore, she fails to even broach the subject of how these issues are to be resolved without jeopardizing the foundations of the modern social welfare state (i.e., free health care, exorbitant unemployment benefits, etc...). Finally, she fails to address an even larger problem within this framework; the large numbers of immigrants form Africa and the Middle East, who come to Europe seeking these benefits and their impact on European nationalism.
Next, Pond stresses the importance of leadership throughout her book, whether it is individual or national. She cites examples of Adenauer, Kohl, Mitterand, and DeGaulle, all at times taking up the mantle of EU leadership, despite widespread domestic animosity, to further the greater good of the EU and Europe. However, she then states that there are no new great politicians/ statesmen of this caliber in present day Europe, who are willing to fly in the face of certain domestic political death for the greater good. This is not consistent for the prevailing view of optimism that Pond wishes to connote.
Finally, although Pond does a good job of addressing NATO, ESDI, and the trans-Atlantic relationship, once again, she does not convince the reader that the problems surrounding these issues are easily surmountable. First, is the military capability gap between Europe and the United States (US). While Pond does a good job of citing the problems and stated intellectual workarounds (i.e., Heisbourg's proposals for Europe to develop professional armies and European defense industrial consolidation to avoid redundancy ), she does not take into account the economic costs, both domestically and politically, nor the effects of globalization (corporate mergers, multi-national corporations) on such intellectual proposals. Furthermore, she does not take into account the risks associated with sharing the technology to upgrade European weapons systems to the caliber of US weapons systems in the form of security leaks when a large number of states become involved.
In the end, Pond's book is an excellent work for readers seeking a greater understanding of the issues facing modern Europe and the trans-Atlantic relationship. However, it fails to make one, who is somewhat knowledgeable in European affairs, feel as optimistic about Europe's future as Pond does. Had Pond taken time to further address some of the issues outlined above in her Epilogue, with cogent solutions, the book would be a powerful work indeed. As it stands, her work leaves a somewhat educated reader wondering if Pond is too optimistic about Europe's future. This writer, although optimistic as well, is not as optimistic as Pond. The issues facing Europe are real, multi-faceted, and exceedingly interlaced to be simply congealed as solvable in the short-run. Pond is right that Europe is a work in progress, but a work that will take significantly longer than Pond implies, especially if Europe and the EU does suffer a significant setback any of the issue areas Pond addresses.

upbeat assessment of European integration.......1999-09-16

As someone working daily in Brussels on European issues and with an interest in EU enlargement, i found this book a breath of fresh air amidst reading on all the problems the EU has to face in enlargement. The author gives a convincingly upbeat and positive assessment of how far the CEECs have come in terms of institution building for democracy and the rule of law, of protection of minorities and human rights, and a (historically new) willingness to work with each other to resolve outstanding and often very old historical conflicts, often related ot minorities and borders. This new phenomenon is at least partly due to the incentive of prospects for EU Membership. The political Copenhagen Criteria set out for EU Membership apperently prove to be succesful at least in this respect. This is not to say that many economic and political issues are resolved, nor that these countries now or even soon will meet all the criteria. But the progress in many CEECs in such fields as democracy and human rights has indeed been remarkable, and that needs to be acknowledged and welcomed.

In terms of pure analysis the book is perhaps not so strong, but then again it is not meant for academia but for a more general public. I think the author, whose journalistic background shines through, does an excellent job in bringing a positive antidote to Euro-pessimism on enlargement.

The Idea of a United Europe: Political, Economic and Cultural Integration since the Fall of the Berlin Wall
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The Idea of a United Europe: Political, Economic and Cultural Integration since the Fall of the Berlin Wall

Manufacturer: Palgrave Macmillan
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0312234848

Book Description

The Idea of a United Europe examine the issues thrown up by the reintegration of Europe since 1989/90 through the primary perspective of European identity. Political economy here joins contemporary history: European studies specialists from Britain, Germany, and the Netherlands review Europe's progress, now that a decade has passed since the end of the cold war. Differences within Europe and unifying factors are both assessed in the course of this quest to examine what "Europe" has become and is becoming at the turn of the millennium.

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The Economics of European Integration
Richard Baldwin
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill/Irwin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Economics of Monetary Union
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Intermediate Microeconomics and Its Application, 10th Edition

ASIN: 0073322423

Book Description

The Economics of European Integration, 2/e provides students with an accessible presentation of the facts, theories and controversies driving rapid change in the heart of Europe. The authors combine essential elements of European history, institutions, law, politics and policies with clear and accessible explanations of the economic principles of European integration. The result is an expert analysis of the contemporary status of integration within the European Union. This second edition has been thoroughly updated and expanded to incorporate recent developments within the European Union, and to reflect current teaching in European Economics. New material in this edition includes coverage of economic integration, labour markets and migration; EU competition and state aid policy; and EU trade policy. Designed for students taking modules in European economics, the book offers a rigorous yet clear exposition of economic arguments alongside examples, illustrations, and questions that bring this contemporary topic to life.

Report on the State of the European Union: Volume 2 (Report on the State of the European Union)

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Report on the State of the European Union: Volume 2 (Report on the State of the European Union)
Jean-Paul Fitoussi , and Jacques Le Cacheux
Manufacturer: Palgrave Macmillan
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1403987408
Release Date: 2007-02-20

Book Description

The time has come to open a lucid debate on the ways and means to make Europe better deliver democracy and sustainable growth. The Report on the State of the European Union examines the progress of European integration and focuses on economic aspects of the process. This second volume in the series, explores the four crises of contemporary Europe, those of growth, trust, inequalities and unity. The report is written in an accessible way and will be a useful resource for academics, students, policymakers, journalists and government advisors.

European Union Enlargement (European Union)

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European Union Enlargement (European Union)

Manufacturer: Palgrave Macmillan
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Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1403913536

Book Description

Since its first enlargement in 1973, expansion has become a way of life for the EU.The current round of enlargement is, however, unprecedented in its scale, in the diversity of applicants, and in the impact on EU structures and policies.This major new text brings together specially commissioned chapters to provide a coherent and comprehensive assessment of the historical and theoretical context of enlargement and its implications for the identity, governance, economics, policies and international role of the EU.

Europe As Empire: The Nature of the Enlarged European Union

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Europe As Empire: The Nature of the Enlarged European Union
Jan Zielonka
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
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Binding: Hardcover

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Design for a New Europe
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The Idea of a European Superstate: Public Justification and European Integration

ASIN: 0199292213

Book Description

This book seeks to comprehend the evolving nature of the European Union following the fall of the Berlin Wall and the failure of the European Constitution. Its prime focus is the last wave of enlargement that has profoundly transformed the EU. Although there are many parallels between the European integration process and state building processes, the Union is nothing like a Westphalian super state. The new emerging polity resembles a kind of neo-medieval empire with a polycentric system of government, multiple and overlapping jurisdictions, striking cultural and economic heterogeneity, fuzzy borders, and divided sovereignty. The book tries to spell out the origin, the shape, and the implications of this empire. The aim of this book is to suggest a novel way of thinking about the European Union and the process of European integration. The book shows 'two Europes' coming together following the end of the cold war. It proposes a system of economic and democratic governance that meets the ever greater challenges of modernization, interdependence, and globalization. It identifies the most plausible scenario of promoting peaceful change in Europe and beyond. The author argues that mainstream thinking about European integration is based on mistaken statist assumptions and suggests more effective and legitimate ways of governing Europe than through adoption of a European Constitution, creation of a European army, or introduction of a European social model. The book covers many fields from politics, and economics to foreign affairs and security. It analyzes developments in both Eastern and Western Europe. It also gives ample room to both theoretical and empirical considerations.

Turkey: Economic Reform and Accession to the European Union (World Bank Trade and Development) (World Bank Trade and Development Series)

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Turkey: Economic Reform and Accession to the European Union (World Bank Trade and Development) (World Bank Trade and Development Series)

Manufacturer: World Bank Publications
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Binding: Paperback

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Turkey and the European Union: Domestic Politics, Economic Integration and International Dynamics
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ASIN: 0821359320

Product Description

What requirements must Turkey¡Xthe largest country among the candidate and accession countries¡Xmeet to join the European Union? What progress has been made toward meeting them? This timely volume analyzes the economic challenges confronting Turkey in its quest to accede to the European Union (EU). It focuses on the extent to which Turkey is ready to join the Single Market, comply with the EU¡¦s body of economic regulations and directives, the Acquis Communautaire, and meet the Maastricht criteria for fiscal, monetary, and exchange rate policies. This book also provides an assessment of Turkey¡¦s national program to meet the accession requirements. It describes briefly what Turkey needs to achieve on the economic policy front to satisfy the conditions for accession, the progress to date, and the likely consequences of implementing the full body of EU requirements. The book is divided into four parts: * An analysis of the macroeconomic policies for EU accession
* An analysis of the effects of integration on key sectors: agriculture; manufacturing; services industries, including banking, telecommunications, transportation, and natural gas; and network industries
* An exploration of key economic policy challenges, including labor market regulation, foreign direct investment challenges, and the costs and benefits of meeting the EU environmental Acquis The quantification of the impact of EU accession and consideration of the welfare effects of integration While the focus is on the specific situation of Turkey, the subject will be of value to all researchers with an interest in the challenges of deeper integration through regional agreements.

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"What requirements must Turkey-the largest country among the candidate and accession countries-meet to join the European Union? What progress has been made toward meeting them? This timely volume analyzes the economic challenges confronting Turkey in its quest to accede to the European Union (EU). It focuses on the extent to which Turkey is ready to join the Single Market, comply with the EU's body of economic regulations and directives, the Acquis Communautaire, and meet the Maastricht criteria for fiscal, monetary, and exchange rate policies. This book also provides an assessment of Turkey's national program to meet the accession requirements. It describes briefly what Turkey needs to achieve on the economic policy front to satisfy the conditions for accession, the progress to date, and the likely consequences of implementing the full body of EU requirements. The book is divided into four parts: An analysis of the macroeconomic policies for EU accession An analysis of the effects of integration on key sectors: agriculture; manufacturing; services industries, including banking, telecommunications, transportation, and natural gas; and network industries An exploration of key economic policy challenges, including labor market regulation, foreign direct investment challenges, and the costs and benefits of meeting the EU environmental Acquis The quantification of the impact of EU accession and consideration of the welfare effects of integration While the focus is on the specific situation of Turkey, the subject will be of value to all researchers with an interest in the challenges of deeper integration through regional agreements. "

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