The New Europe

A United Europe:  Historical Fact or Political Fiction?

 

 

Divergent Points of View

Vaclav Havel v. Tony Judt

 

 

Others we will read in this course

TR Reid v. Ray Taras

 

 

 

 

But first, let’s ask ourselves:

 

Why is a united Europe important? 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Europe is the home to America’s closest allies

Their ability to live peacefully together, to prosper, to provide for their security has everything strong repercussions for US

 

Europe is the historical source of political innovation for the Western world, the whole world

     Where it has led, many have followed

European integration is a grand experiment in institutional flexibility, creating and shifting power to the supra-national level

It is a bold response to the political and economic realities of the late 20^th and early 21^st centuries

 

The competition?

     Europe is the US’s strongest competitor for

Economic power

          Political power

          Scientific progress

          Prowess in sport

               The Medal Count at the London 2012 Olympics

 

 

 

 

Who is Vaclav Havel?

 

What does he see as the ties that bind Europeans together?

Havel:  Europe exists in three senses

     1. geographic

2.  former communist countries(?)
seeking a "return to Europe"

i.e., a Europe of prosperity, political freedom, democracy

**3.  really several bases
        common complex history
        common values
        common culture
        common way of life
        a common destiny

European History:

Significant events?
    
How have these shaped European politics?

Culture:

What common ways of life?

Values:

    Which values animate European social life, politics?

   
    Source of these values?
            Christianity, Judeo-Christian Ethics

            "Common Moral Minimum"

  
             Kantianism      

   
    Tone of his conclusion:  Europe = Christendom?
   

Ideologies:

     Liberalism – US vs. Europe

     Socialism/Communism

     Fascism

     Nazism

    Social Democracy

Development
Economically and politically

 
What is “modernity?”  What are the characteristics of modern society/polity

 
When did Europe become “modern”?

 
Why did Europe become the core of the modern world?

Post-industrial society _– what is it?

Where is Europe going?

Who is included/excluded from Havel’s Europe?

Is Havel overly optimistic about the prospects for one Europe founded on recognition of common European history, civilization?

 

Is this an elitist view of history/reality?

 

Do average people feel this way?

Tony Judt
Europe: The Grand Illusion

A Euro-skeptic

Ends with idea “’Europe’ is more than a geographical concept but less than an answer (to Europe’s problems).”

European integration as a reaction to history of conflict,
    culminating in World Wars of the 20th Century
    fascism
    nazism
    genocide

 

Thus, linchpin to the "new Europe" = Germany

Germany's role in new Europe

France's role

 

East-Central Europe's role

Europe today is a Europe of
"winners" and "losers"

who are the winners, according to Judt?
     who are the losers?

Europe's most pressing problems:
immigration and creation of an "urban underclass"
energy dependence
economic stagnation
unemployment
declining infrastructure
crisis of welfare state

 

 

Diversity

Not mentioned by Judt or Havel
  

Percent foreign born, 2007 or most recent year, OECD 2010

But may be the most significant change in European societies over last generation

NOTE similarities with US, the developed world

 

Affects the basis of European identity as defined by Havel

Contributes to (or is perceived to contribute to) many of the problems cited by Judt

AND

Could be an answer to many of the problems cited by Judt