Pax Transatlantica

America and Europe in the post-Cold War Era 1st Edition

By: Jussi M. Hanhimaki

Narrated by: Mike Cooper

Length: 7 hrs and 19 mins

Publisher's summary

Is the West finished as a political idea? In recent years, observers have begun pointing to signs that this transatlantic community is eroding. When the European Union expanded, the classic European nation state was in decline. Now, nationalism is on the rise. Furthermore, nations within the EU are less willing to cooperate with the US on policies that require sacrifice and risks, such as using military force alongside the US. Today, following the twin shocks of Brexit and Trump's election, the concept of a unified Western transatlantic community seems to be a relic. But, in Pax Transatlantica, the international historian Jussi Hanhimäki explains why the West is far from over.

Hanhimäki argues that - despite Trump's inflammatory, dismissive rhetoric - NATO continues to provide robust security for its member states. NATO has survived by expanding its remit and scope, and it is viewed favorably by member states overall. Moreover, the transatlantic relationship boasts the richest and most closely connected transcontinental economy in the world. Lastly, Hanhimäki traces the parallel evolution of domestic politics on both sides of the Atlantic, focusing on the rise of populism. He contends that populism is not causing a rift between the US and Europe. Rather, the spread of populism evinces that their politics are in fact closely integrated.

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Solid Review of the Transatlantic Partnership

If you have not put much thought into what binds together the transatlantic relationship between Europe and America, this is a good place to start. Hanhimaki points out that the relationship is grounded in Nato, and it can be expected to endure. It is also rooted in shared culture and political trends insofar as both regions tend to swing between liberal and conservative governments, while being bound to an unwavering center, in much the same way.

Unfortunately, in making his argument, he goes too fat in dismissing the threat to democracy posed by rightwing nationalists and fascists like Trump. It in not the grand narrative of Francis Fuluyama’s End of History thesis, but it is equally complacent. Hanhimaki also fails to take the threats posed by inequality seriously, eliding rightwing populism and leftwing populism in the same dopey way that became customary when Trump first took office.

In spite of the importance of the relationship he adumbrates, it is this unwillingness to get his hands dirty with advocacy in a contingent world, that ultimately makes this book worth reading only to a select few.