Includes bibliographical references (pages 275-280) and index.
Contents:
Part I: At the brink -- Divided we fall -- United we stand -- Part II: Delusion -- Amnesia -- The European dwarf I: the Middle Est -- The European dwarf II: Russia -- The chronic condition of nationalism -- "Quick fix" politics -- The Hungarian disgrace -- The mass grave of the Mediterranean: migration and security -- Part III: Decay -- The digital desert -- The decline of European industry -- The credit crunch -- The obese labor market -- The delusion of the European budget -- The quagmire of European institutions -- Part IV: Panic -- The Brexit -- The Grexit -- The n-euro and s-euro -- Part V: Rebirth -- A government for the euro -- A European army -- The United States of Europe -- Epilogue.
Summary:
"In the heart of Europe's current crisis, one of the continent's foremost statesmen urges for a radical remaking of the European Union in the model of the United States The diseases that plague Europe respect no borders. Guy Verhofstadt, former prime minister of Belgium and a leader in the European Parliament, shows that wherever we look-from the debt crisis in Greece to the rise of political Islam across Europe, the Syrian refugee crisis to Putin's aggressive imperialism-we see colossal challenges far too large for any single nation to overcome. In Europe's Last Chance, Verhofstadt proposes that Europe abandon the artificial divisions of nation-states and instead embrace a unified democracy on a continental scale: a United States of Europe. Revealing how this seemingly impossible dream nearly became a reality in 1953-when only a last-minute vote by the French parliament stopped a political and military unification of France, West Germany, Italy, Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands-Verhofstadt builds a powerful and surprising argument for the necessity of unity; so that Europe remains secure, influential, and prosperous into the future"-- Provided by publisher. "The diseases that plague Europe know no borders. The terrorist attacks in France; the refugee crises of Syria and Libya; the aggression of Putin's Russia; the financial meltdown and sputtering economy: all existential threats to Europe's future that cannot be solved by any one state alone. Yet in the face of these colossal challenges, Europe's politicians squabble as impotently as they once did in the lead-up to the Second World War. Without drastic action and fresh vision, Europe will slip into parochial oblivion; leaving its allies--such as the United States--alone against Russia, China, ISIS, and other undemocratic adversaries. For Europe, and her American allies, this really is the last chance. But what is the right path foreword for the continent? The answer, according to Guy Verhofstadt, is for Europe to remake itself in the model of the United States of America. The former Prime Minister of Belgium, Guy Verhofstadt is currently the leader of a powerful center-left coalition in the European Parliament, and he has seen first-hand the dismal failings and pernicious stalemates of Europe's leadership. As it stands Europe suffers from the worst of both worlds, with the EU combining the bureaucracy and obstinacy of empire with all the divisiveness and bigotry of old nationalisms. Much as America's sovereign states traded self-government for the security, efficiency, and prosperity of a federal government--and thus laid the foundation for the immense wealth and power of the U.S. today--so too must Europe's independent nations accept the mantle of federalism so as to remain prosperous and influential into the future"-- Provided by publisher.
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