Disappointing, 27 May 2005

The last paragraph is what annoys me the most. The book may not support old-fashioned imperialism, but Leonard's attitude is little more than a modern rehash of it, in which the economically prosperous countries of Western Europe once again have little to learn from the rest of the world, but must, through example and coercion, teach its ideology to everyone else. At one point near the end, Leonard mentions the rise of China, now often (rightly or wrongly) touted as the world's next superpower, and with the characteristic and laughable smugness that runs through the entire book suggests that a more powerful China, enlightened by European philosophies, could be used as a tool for spreading the EU's methods and ideals further.

Quite a few of the ideas in the book are not wrong. Europe's ideals regarding foreign policy, shaped by the devastation of wars on its own soil, are generally wiser than the attitudes of George W Bush and the politicians in the United States who have little regard for the lives of people in other countries that are not of much economic benefit to them. There is indeed a lot that the rest of the world can learn from Europe's present and past when building a better international future. However, there are serious problems with Europe's current system that make it untenable in the long run, and this is barely acknowledged by Leonard at all.

What of the fact that Britain outsources a lot of its work to India, where educated workers are paid less and can sometimes have better English language skills than the people at home? Or the fact that Europe and the rest of the world increasingly rely on China to provide cheap labour so that clothes, televisions, and any number of other things remain affordable? How is the world going to cope if these countries are fully Westernised and the population demands to have the EU's liberal lifestyle, where it is easy for many people to take more from society than they give back? What will the EU do to replace its reliance on cheap workers found elsewhere in the world? I don't claim to have the answers, but Leonard doesn't even consider the questions worth asking.

In fact, almost all of the book is devoted to rebuffing criticisms of the EU, pointing out why those criticisms are flawed and how great the European Union really is. Leonard may not mean everything he says; there is a sense that sometimes he is merely trying to provoke his opponents, but the sad thing is that this book could have been so much more: a balanced and thoughtful look at the problems facing the EU, its great achievements, and how it and the rest of the world can learn from each other. Instead, the whole book is shamelessly one-sided and simplistic, and embarrassing to read in places.

There are too many problems with this book to list them all, and the points in favour of it are generally few and far between. It's a good read for Europeans feeling insecure about their continent's future, who want a rose-tinted view of the next century where values familiar to them will still be prominent in the world. Or buy it for the amusing picture of Leonard on the inside cover. Otherwise, the book is well worth a miss.

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