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For Immediate Release: The Next Superpower? “The best book yet written on the geopolitical significance of
the economic colossus of the European Union and its contentious relations
with America. It is a must read for Europeans and Americans who are concerned
about the future of the Atlantic partnership.” For many Americans, recent news of “crisis” in the European Union (EU) has drawn attention to this unique 25-nation organization, whose history stretches back more than half a century, and whose common law extends from the Atlantic shores of Ireland to the borders of the former Soviet Union. In the turmoil over the EU constitution and budget, as with the earlier European rift over the war in Iraq, the EU faces choices that will determine its future success and even its very survival. Yet with a gross domestic product approaching $12 trillion, second only to that of the U.S.; the world's largest budget for development assistance to poor countries; a membership that includes two nuclear powers (Britain and France); and 25 votes at the United Nations, the EU can and does use its vast economic and geopolitical "soft power" to influence events and economies around the world. U.S. political and military leaders, and the largest American corporations including Microsoft and General Electric, have learned at great cost that the EU is a force they cannot afford to ignore—and which they must come to better understand. What do Americans need to know about how the EU works? And why should the U.S. be concerned about preserving its partnership with the EU? In THE NEXT SUPERPOWER?: THE RISE OF EUROPE AND ITS CHALLENGE TO THE UNITED STATES, Ambassador Rockwell Schnabel, a native European, respected American businessman, and the most recent U.S. representative to the EU, answers these questions and more. He explains the vital choices that Europeans must make over the next few years, which will determine whether or not the EU fulfills its potential and becomes the next superpower. Will the EU take the path of free markets, blazed by Tony Blair's Britain and the newest post-Communist member states? Or the path of heavy regulation and state economic management long promoted by France? In the face of global threats including Islamist terrorism and rogue states in Asia and the Middle East, will the EU reaffirm its historic commitment to the Atlantic Alliance? Or will it abandon the common defense of the West in favor of a French strategy of "counterbalancing" America? These choices are momentous not only for Europe but also for the United States. America’s wealth and security depend on an integrated Europe committed to free markets and the Atlantic Alliance. Growth in the $2.5-trillion annual transatlantic commercial relationship would produce more revenue for U.S. corporations, more capital for U.S. entrepreneurs, more jobs for U.S. workers, and more opportunities for U.S. investors. Amid the spread of terrorism and the proliferation of biological, chemical and nuclear weapons, a strong and unified Europe is America’s indispensable partner in security. Though the U.S. can win wars on its own, it needs allies to keep the peace. And working together, the U.S. and the EU can pursue a common agenda of security and humanitarian aid, fighting poverty as well as tyranny, to the benefit of the world. This book, the first of its kind, makes clear why the U.S. must work with the EU—or expect the EU to work against it. The Next Superpower? Contact: Claire Sanders Swift |
Last Updated: Thursday, June 28, 2007 12:39 PM