End of the West?

The past several years have seen strong disagreements between the U.S. government and many of its European allies. News accounts of these challenges focus on isolated incidents and points of contention. The End of the West? addresses some basic questions: Are we witnessing a deepening transatlantic rift, with wide-ranging consequences for the future of world order? Or are today's foreign-policy disagreements the equivalent of dinner-table squabbles? What harm, if any, have events since 9/11 done to the enduring relationships between the U.S. government and its European counterparts?The contributors to this volume, whose backgrounds range from political science and history to economics, law, and sociology, examine the "deep structure" of an order that was first imposed by the Allies in 1945 and has been a central feature of world politics ever since. Creatively and insightfully blending theory and evidence, the chapters in The End of the West? examine core structural features of the transatlantic order to determine whether current disagreements are minor and transient or catastrophic and permanent.

"In this must-read book, an outstanding group of scholars tackles one of the most critical international issues of our time: how the transatlantic partnership will evolve in the years to come. To what extent are the forces of change structural and so largely immutable to control; to what extent can policy decisions mold events? Everyone concerned about the future of American political, security, and economic relations with the European Union and NATO is sure to find in The End of the West? compelling arguments for thought and debate."—Tony Smith, Cornelia M. Jackson Professor of Political Science, Tufts University, "The End of the West? is the best overview of the transatlantic order in the past decade. The authors of this excellent book take a big-picture approach, addressing the issue from varying theoretical perspectives in a first-rate series of essays. The book should be required reading for anyone seeking to understand the changing transatlantic partnership or its implications for theories of international relations."—Mark A. Pollack, Temple University

Jeffrey Anderson is the Graf Goltz Professor and Director of the BMW Center for German and European Studies of the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, and Professor of Government at Georgetown University. He is the author most recently of German Unification and the Union of Europe. G. John Ikenberry is Albert G. Milbank Professor of Politics and International Affairs at Princeton University, the author most recently of Liberal Order and Imperial Ambition, and the editor of America Unrivaled, also from Cornell. Thomas Risse is Professor of International Politics at Freie Universität Berlin. He is the author of books including Cooperation among Democracies and the coeditor of Transforming Europe, also from Cornell.