Europe today is deeply divided. Thirty years after the end of the Cold War and the celebratory moment when the wall came down, we are faced with a new Cold War. Russia-Western relations are arguably more dangerous than ever since the Cuban missile crisis. Diplomatic relations are frozen, sanctions installed, the old arms control treaties abandoned, and new nuclear weapons and carriers developed. EU Europe itself is divided. It is not just Brexit, marking the first real break-away from the Union, but also clashes within. From the yellow vests clashes with police in the heart of Paris, to so-called populist movements on the rise in the periphery and across the continent. The Visegrad countries (Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Czech Republic) are regularly at odds with the EU core (Brussels and the France-Germany axis) to a degree where the idea of sanctions is invoked. The Western security framework and NATO itself appears to break down, with Turkey, the NATO member with the organisations second largest military numerically, now purchasing Russian weapon systems and seeking strategic relations in Eurasia. How did it come to this and what happened with the post-Cold War dream? And what has happened to the post world war visions of European integration and security order? What are the critical processes and events that have led us unto this path? This book aims to address and explore these historical problems.
Jens Stilhoff Soerensen is Associate Professor and Senior Lecturer in the School of Global Studies, Gothenburg University. He has worked for the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs and for the OSCE. His previous works include State Collapse and Reconstruction in the Periphery ( 2019) and (edited) Challenging the Aid Paradigm: Western Currents and Asian Alternatives (2010).
Preface Chapter 1. Introduction: Splitting Europe Chapter 2. Visions of Europe: From Reconstruction to Early European Integration Chapter 3. Towards a Neoliberal Union Chapter 4. The Dissenters Chapter 5. Neoliberalism, Elite Revolt, and Dislocation of the Left Chapter 6. Lost Visions and Failed Promises: Ending the Cold War and the End of the Soviet Union Chapter 7. Russian Identity and Foreign Policy: National Reconstruction Chapter 8. Meltdown: New Cold War Chapter 9. Conclusion References
Crucially, Soerensen's book emphasizes the importance of rebuilding European security and alerts readers to the increasing challenges in its way. * International Affairs *
