| REVIEW | Emperically weak book for anti-American Provocateurs
I am PhD student of European Integration and how it has changed Europe's relations with the America. This book is a misguiding piece of literature. The general thesis is that American super-power will be squelched by European soft power. While it is well-written and does illuminate some provocative aspects of European-American relations, it ignores the reality that Europe is finds it difficult to integrate with itself (e.g. Constitution 2004, Bolkestein Directive, Lisbon Treaty Post-Irish Referenda, Free Movement of People). Look, to conclude that Europe is a single bloc politically is absurd. Ask the British, the Danes, the Swedes, the Poles, and any other Euroskeptic state. Europe is an economic idea - not political. This is not to say that it won't be, but Reid assumes it already is.
A better, more objecetive, historical account of integration is Dinan's 'Europe Recast'. Read that, toss this. |
