Explaining Euro-paralysis: Why Europe Is Unable To Act In International Politics (st. Antony's Series)

This book is about Europe's apparent inability to cope with the complex international environment. Why does the Union fail to create a workable (sound) Common Foreign and Security Policy? Five distinct explanations for Euro-paralysis are considered, focusing on power politics, the assertion of national interests, misguided institutional designs, a crisis of modern democracy, and the post-Cold War conceptual confusion. The Twentieth Century Posed Great Challenges For British Foreign Policy. How Effectively Did Policymakers Cope With Change And Decline? Were They As Pragmatic As They Claimed? Are There Identifiable Patterns Of Success And Failure? Peter Mangold Seeks To Answer These Questions In This New Thematic Account Of British Foreign Policy Between 1900 And 2000. Issues Covered Include Imperial Overstretch, The Reluctance To Engage Militarily And Politically With Continental Europe, Alliance Management, The Role Of Force, Loss Of Great Power Status, And Britain's Impact On The International System. The Final Chapter Considers Prospects For The Twenty-first Century.--jacket. 1. The Scope Of The Possible -- 2. Ends Beyond Means -- 3. The Limits Of Pragmatism -- 4. Kinds Of Allies -- 5. The Strategic Dimension -- 6. The Sound Barrier -- 7. International Impact -- 8. Patterns And Prognoses -- App. I. Outline Chronology, Main Events Relating To British Foreign Policy, 1900-2000 -- App. Ii. British Foreign Secretaries, 1900-2001. Peter Mangold. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 219-233) And Index. Jan Zielonka analyzes the apparent failure of the European Union to create a common foreign and security policy (CFSP). He argues that European paralysis is basically caused by democracy and identity problems. Common policies do not work because they do not really enjoy genuine public legitimacy. Europeans do not have a high degree of natural affinity with these policies and they virtually have no control over them. Traditional foreign policy concerns such as power, institutions and national interested were found less crucial in explaining the CFSP failures. What can be done? The union should make some basic strategic choices about its purpose, functions and territory. One choice suggested in the book is to opt for a civilian power model for the Union, the other is to define the borders of the Union. The 1997 treaty of Amsterdam has only reaffirmed the long-standing ambiguity about the Union's geographic reach and purpose. The book argues that such ambiguity has proved to be a grave liability for the Union.--Publisher description

Jan Zielonka analyzes the apparent failure of the European Union to create a common foreign and security policy (CFSP). He argues that European paralysis is basically caused by democracy and identity problems. Common policies do not work because they do not really enjoy genuine public legitimacy. Europeans do not have a high degree of natural affinity with these policies and they virtually have no control over them. Traditional foreign policy concerns such as power, institutions and national interested were found less crucial in explaining the CFSP failures. What can be done? The union should make some basic strategic choices about its purpose, functions and territory. One choice suggested in the book is to opt for a civilian power model for the Union, the other is to define the borders of the Union. The 1997 treaty of Amsterdam has only reaffirmed the long-standing ambiguity about the Union's geographic reach and purpose. The book argues that such ambiguity has proved to be a grave liability for the Union.

"The twentieth century posed great challenges for British foreign policy. How effectively did policymakers cope with change and decline? Were they as pragmatic as they claimed? Are there identifiable patterns of success and failure?". "Peter Mangold seeks to answer these questions in this new thematic account of British foreign policy between 1900 and 2000. Issues covered include imperial overstretch, the reluctance to engage militarily and politically with continental Europe, alliance management, the role of force, loss of Great Power status, and Britain's impact on the international system. The final chapter considers prospects for the twenty-first century."--BOOK JACKET. A growing interest in political Islam has assumed significant ideological and intellectual dimensions, especially in recent years. Rather than viewing the issue as Islam versus the rest, or tradition against modernity, this volume acknowledges the mutualities without overlooking the tensions. It centers on issues such as the Rushdie affair, conflictive pluralism in South Asia and Islam's links with the Kashmir dispute, the Iranian revolution, civil war in Afghanistan, and western public diplomacy. Front Matter....Pages i-ix Introduction: Beyond Euro-optimism and skepticism....Pages 1-24 Power politics, again....Pages 25-54 Divergent traditions and conflicting interests....Pages 55-96 Paradigm lost and conceptual confusion....Pages 97-135 The crisis of modern democracy....Pages 137-176 Weak institutions....Pages 177-218 Conclusions: The choices to be made....Pages 219-238 Back Matter....Pages 239-266 "This book gives an economic perspective to the analysis of deforestation. Following a survey of different deforestation definitions, theories and empirical evidence, a case-study of Ecuador provides a versatile historical picture of factors influencing forest loss throughout different periods, regions and ecosystems."--BOOK JACKET.