Tags:
Journalism of Courage
The failure of the EU to make much of an impact at last months climate-change summit in Copenhagen caused shock in European capitals. At the moment of adopting a new rule book,the Lisbon treaty,to give the EU global clout,confused Europeans find themselves asking: what is their union for?
In this moment of angst,a masterly historical survey of the European project,coupled with a critique of its current failings,is just what the EU needs. Perry Anderson,a British historian at UCLA and a former editor of New Left Review,offers these valuable aids to reflection in this collection of essays on Europe and the union. Firmly left-wing,his solidarity with the street against the palace allows him to see the modern EU for what it too often is: a cartel of self-protective elites. He can be crudely dismissive of pet hates: Britain,New Labour,Winston Churchill a modest historical figure,who briefly inspired his country during a war won by Soviet troops and American wealth.
Alas,the book is finally a disappointment. It includes essays so old they find Mr Anderson pondering the weakness of the Chirac government in France,and how Germany will change when its capital moves to Berlin. Even its updates are out of date. Bafflingly,the author decided not to alter the book to take account of the global financial crisis. His climactic prediction for the EU is particularly weak.
A swooning francophile,Mr Anderson was aghast to see President Nicolas Sarkozy taking France back into the military structures of NATO,and sending troops to Afghanistan. With France joining other big countries in surrender to the Atlantic imperium,the EU,he concludes,is preparing itself for the role of deputy empire to the Yanks.
This is lazy stuff. Among European politicians,American power is suddenly the object of sighing nostalgia,not a source of alarm. All talk now is of a post-American century,dominated by powers like China,which Mr Anderson barely mentions. As a result,he condemns this vast and sometimes brilliant book to the realm of irrelevance.
