Europe's existential dilemma : to be or not to be an American vassal / Guy Mettan.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Mettan, Guy, author.

Contributor:

Alumni and Friends Memorial Book Fund.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Europe--Politics and government--21st century.

Europe.

Politics and government.

Physical Description:

xv, 266 pages ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Atlanta, GA : Clarity Press, Inc., 2021.

Summary:

"While Europe as a whole remains a first world economic power, it has been unable to build either a truly democratic and efficient state, or to secure peace within its territory or to have impact as a respected power on the international scene. Its splendid intellectual and artistic icons of the past two centuries are dimming in memory, leaving it no longer a radiant cultural Mecca for the world. Starting with Brexit in 2016, the European Union is now exposed to an array of dismantling forces, including the possibility of further exits, the organized opposition of populist parties, and popular uprisings like those of the Yellow Jackets in France. Mettan outlines the long history of attempts to unify the European continent, stretching from Charlemagne to Napoleon, Hitler and Stalin, predecessors to the current iteration. He specifies the routes they took, which were most promising and durable, and why they all collapsed. The institutionalization of Brussels' current CIA-influenced technocratic iteration suffers from an extreme "democracy deficit". Strikingly, he compares Rome's early adulation and mimicry of ancient Greece, followed by its steady encroachment and final absorption of it, to the current trajectory of relations between the United States and Europe, noting the increasing penetration of American culture and exer-extending application of its laws. The European Union has allowed the United States to tell Europeans how they are to progress, with whom they are to collaborate, and against whom they should go to war. Mettan addresses these urgent questions: Is Europe capable of ensuring security and prosperity? Do its institutions respect the internal political and social balances? Are its standards set to meet the needs of one and all or of only a few? Is Europe in a position to respond to external pressure? Indeed, whither Europe? Mettan examines in greater depth the problems confronting contemporary Europe-the strengths and weaknesses not only of the European Union but also of Europe's institutional construction; the profound imbalances that keep it from moving forward, namely the democratic "deficit" and the stifling primacy of economics and law over politics; the sprawling expansion of an ever unsatisfactory governance, the military tutelage of the United States and the absence of sovereignty; and the US-exacerbated tensions with Russia and the Mediterranean countries. He then examines two possible futures. The first one foresees Europe remaining eaten away with its old evils, unable to reform itself or to make real choices in its own interest. Or to be more precise, Europe chooses to be insignificant, to remain subservient to ever increasing US demands and ascendancy, unable to address its unique concerns in defense or energy policy while being denied potential economic benefits from a rising China and its Belt & Road Initiative, and forced into ever deeper and dangerous confrontation with Russia. The second one postulates that Europeans, fully conscious of what is at stake, will face up to Europe's problems and create an institutional framework that will enable it to emerge from its increasing domination by the United States and stave off its inevitable decline into vassalization-seizing the opportunity of the new space opened by the emerging Chinese power to create a truly democratic and sovereign federal union. Here, Switzerland provides an example"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Machine generated contents note: pt. I A DISAPPOINTING LEARNING PROCESS

ch. 1 Europe: From Enthusiasm To Disappointment

The End of the European Dream

A Disappointing Learning Process

The Myth of European Peace Collapses

Slipshod Enlargement and Botched Democratic Deepening

"Fordization" and Mind Control

The Collapse of the German Kultur and Bildung

How Can One Be European Today?

pt. II THE LESSONS OF HISTORY

ch. 2 From Charlemagne To Stalin: The Failure Of Constraint

Europe, a Very Old Idea

Charlemagne: The First Attempt to Unite by Force

Otto of Saxony and the Successful Second Try

The Holy Empire: A Union before the Union

Austria and Mitteleuropa

Napoleon: The Second Failed Attempt to Unite Europe by Force

Hitler and Stalin: Union through Blood and Tears

Communism: Equality at Any Price

The Failure of Strong-arm Tactics

No United Europe without Freedom and Equality

Partial Success of the Soft Approach

ch. 3 The Greek Syndrome And Europe's American Encroachment

Greece: A Miniature Europe?

City-States Vying for Civilization

All Divided but United by Danger and by the Gods

The Peloponnesian War and the Great European Civil War

An Example of a Fatal Spiral of Events

The Broken Springs of Civilization

The Lost Dynamics of Politics and Culture

A Hidden Fracture

The Cultural Center of Gravity Shifts Toward the United States

The Nucleus May Be Gone, but the Radiation Continues

The Disunited Greeks Call the Romans for Help

The Greek Economy Relocated in the East

Greece Conquered by the "Western Barbarians"

Greece Slain by the Federal Fiasco

ch. 4 Two Scenarios For A Declining Continent

Scenario I Contraction and Breakup

Scenario II Europe Absorbed by the United States

Choosing between Insignificance and/or Servitude

pt. III A MALFUNCTIONING MACHINE

ch. 5 The European Technocratic Dictatorship

A Priori, a Logical and Wise Economic Choice

The Dismissal of Democracy or the Jean Monnet Method

A Permanent Judiciary Coup d'Etat

An Obscure Legislative Circuit

Laws Drafted by Non-elected Officials

The Democratic Gap

An Ersatz Constitution

The Betrayal of the Social Model

The Left Betrays the Underprivileged Classes

Third Contradiction: Unbearable Social Inequalities

The Spiral of Salary Stagnation and Debt

ch. 6 American Trusteeship, Russian Exclusion, German Hegemony

The Cold War Divides Europe

Military Subjection, Economic Absequience

The Europeans Acquiesce to Vassalization

The Total Flop of Gorbachev's Common European Home

Anti-Russian Propaganda Campaigns

The Hypocritical Battle against Nationalism

The Illegal Bombing of Serbia and the Kosovo War

Kosovo Recognized in Defiance of the Law

Hypocrisy Concerning the Right of Peoples to Self-determination

Peace Within But Repeated Wars Without

A Europe Embarked on Alien Wars

Germany's Outsized Influence

The Reality of German Oversizing

Germany's Demographics Obsession

ch. 7 Europe's Absurd Form Of Governance: Bad Planning Or Intentional?

A Whirlwind of Proposals to Amend European Governance

The Democracy Deficit

The Countless Layers of Europe's Thousandfold Institutionalization

Other Intergovernmental Organizations in Europe

A Wobbly Institutional Pudding

The Europeanists and Populists against Federal Europe

Russian Geography and Chinese Demography Require a Strong State

The Strengths of the United States: Its Institutions, Its Army and the US Dollar

Europe, a "Non-imperial" Empire?

pt. IV SCENARIOS FOR THE FUTURE: A DEMOCRATIC INDEPENDENT FEDERATION OR A PROVINCE OFTHE EMPIRE?

ch. 8 The Imperial Scenario: The Choice Of Insignificance Under American Ascendancy

A New Era of Post-Truth and Post-Democracy

The Impact of the US Imperial Republic on Europe

The Differences between an Imperial Republic and an Empire

A US-Driven Global Corporate Empire

Serfdom? A Dubious Fate for Europe

ch. 9 The Scenario Of Independence: A Democratic Reset And Full Sovereignty

Two Conditions for a European Recovery

Relative Decline in the United States Opens Up New Opportunities

The Power of the American Narrative is Losing Its Impact

The United States Knows How to Destroy, but Fails to Build Peace

In Europe, the United States Is Content to Replay the Cold War

The New Silk Roads Are a Game Changer

China's Rise to Power Opens Up Opportunities for Europe

How Switzerland Could Inspire Europe

To Trust or Not to Trust the People, This Is the True Question

The Security Dimension and The Role of the Army

How Switzerland Addressed the Threat of Separatism

A Brief Lesson in Federalism

Concordance and Coalitions at Every Level

Innovative Taxation to Finance Federal Europe

European Sovereignty

Neutrality (or Non-alignment) as a Principle of Action

Europe: The Will Behind the Way.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Alumni and Friends Memorial Book Fund.

ISBN:

9781949762402

1949762408

OCLC:

1242026773