European Integration

Volume 10/2009 Summer

Limited Turbulence

The Czech Republic’s government collapsed this spring, Latvia faces national bankruptcy, and Slovak nationalists are mobilizing against the Hungarian minority. Twenty years after their peaceful revolutions, the countries of East Central Europe are not paragons of stability. Are they teetering on the brink of collapse?

Volume 10/2009 Summer

Think National Interest, Act European

The process of European integration has long ceased to be a matter of choice. It is an urgent necessity and needs to go far beyond the Lisbon Treaty. In light of the international economic crisis and climate change, the creation of a European “Union state” is the only way forward.

Volume 10/2009 Summer

Europe's Inherent vigor

Just as the financial crisis reveals the weaknesses of global markets and free-market thinking, the advantages of European modes of business have become starkly evident. Should EU reforms build on these comparative advantages, Europe could emerge even stronger.

Volume 10/2009 Summer

Europe 2030: Candide's Garden

The age of globalization is over. The coming thirty years will be shaped by the logic of scarcity, resulting in a turn away from global trade and the creation of self-reliant geopolitical zones. But Europe is prepared for these challenges. It has developed the best social political order in history and will maintain it, behind walls.

Volume 10/2009 Summer

Europe 2030: A Postmodern Middle Ages

Globalization will further weaken the national state. A long transition process toward global government will be, like the Middle Ages, a time of great insecurity. But Europe’s governance structure will prevail, even in the United States.

Volume 10/2009 Summer

Perilous Change of Course

The election of the AKP government has brought significant changes to Turkey’s foreign policy agenda. Engagement with its Arab neighbors is taking precedence over cooperation with Israel and the West. But Ankara’s solidarity with Hamas undermines Turkey’s role as regional mediator. It also endangers its chances for EU accession.

Volume 10/2009 Summer

Mice and Men

The Czech Republic proved that small EU states are not up to running the EU Council Presidency. Leadership on a such a scale is simply beyond their means. Nevertheless, Sweden hopes to see the Lisbon Treaty ratified. Then it wants to lay the foundations for a real European foreign policy.

Volume 10/2009 Summer

Slovakia’s Sonderweg to Normalcy

Slovakia’s economy has turned around like no other in East Central Europe. But while the country appears to have bid farewell to the ugly nationalism of the 1990s, relations with the Hungarian minority are still prickly. The European Union must keep a close eye on the simmering Slovak-Magyar conflict.