Cousins And Strangers. America, Britain, And Europe In A New Century

Cover Type: Softcover
Book Condition: Fine
Jacket Condition: None Issued
Publisher: Times Books
Publisher Place: New York
Publisher Year: 2006
Edition: First Edition

Description: 309 pages. Book appears to have hardly been read and is in Fine condition throughout.

Publishers Description: "A magisterial volume--a cocktail of autobiography, political analysis of the state of the world, and policy prescriptions." --"Foreign Affairs"For fifty years, the Americans, British, and Europeans were close partners, yet today the Western alliance is strained to a moment of reckoning. In "Cousins and Strangers," Chris Patten, one of Europes most distinguished statesmen, scrutinizes what has happened in the years since the fall of the Berlin Wall, pinpointing the shifts in power and security that have reshaped our world. In penetrating and sparkling analysis, Patten argues that to face the urgent threats of the twenty-first century--terrorism, nuclear proliferation, failed and failing states, massive environmental change--the Western alliance must stop bickering and kowtowing and start asserting cooperative leadership. Bad habits and easy, self-absorbed slogans must give way to smart politics in order to ensure the worlds, and our own, best interests. Drawing on his decades of experience in government and international diplomacy, Patten sharply assesses the leadership of the United States, Great Britain, and Europe, and the stakes for all three if the West breaks apart. Chris Patten, chancellor of Oxford and Newcastle universities, was from 1999 until 2004 European commissioner for external relations. He was previously the member of Parliament for Bath, chairman of the Conservative Party, and the last British governor of Hong Kong. He is the author of "East and West": " China, Power, and the Future of Asia." He lives in London. For fifty years, the Americans, British, and Europeans have been close strategic partners. After the Second World War, the United States helped preserve freedom in half of Europe and gave the West a remarkable half century of (for the most part) peace and prosperity. Yet today the Western alliance is strained to a moment of reckoning. In "Cousins and Strangers," Chris Patten scrutinizes what has happened in the years since the fall of the Berlin Wall, making sense of the fundamental shifts in international power that now shape out world, and making the case for reestablishing a strong and effective Western alliance in the years ahead. To face the urgent threats of the twenty-first century--terrorism, nuclear proliferation, fissures between rich and poor nations, failed and failing states, massive environmental change--the United States, Great Britain, and Europe must stop the bickering and assert cooperative leadership. Bad habits and easy, self-absorbed slogans must give way to smart politics in order to ensure our best interests. Patten, who served as the last British governor of Hong Kong and the European Unions diplomatic liaison to the rest of the world, shows how this responsibility falls on all three partners: * Americas gunslinging attitudes and "youre with us or against us" unilateralism have alienated its friends in addition to its enemies. The United States must shun the imperial mantle, renew its commitment to global governance, and take on a leadership role--and a larger share of the expenses--in environmental and economic management. * The United Kingdom has acted more like a poodle than a partner to its American cousins, undermining Britains own strategic interests at home and in Europe. Britain must reinvent the "special relationship" as a channel for persuading America to follow Europes multilateral principles rather than as a cover for American unilateralism. * Europe, particularly France, has pushed back against a strong European Union--except as a free-trade zone and as a forum for sniping at U.S. policy. Europe must step up as a military and political leader just as it has on the economic front, taking on a larger share of the responsibility for security and policing that have previously been left to the United States. Drawing on his decades of experiences in elected government and international diplomacy, Patten investigates the three-way relationship among America, Britain, and Europe, and show how all three must adapt to cope with the economic and political challenges of the twenty-first century. "A brilliantly catty and nicely constructed text--so felicitous in its language and subtle in its jabs that one wishes for a bit more."--Josef Joffe, "The New York Times Book Review" "A brilliantly catty and nicely constructed text--so felicitous in its language and subtle in its jabs that one wishes for a bit more."--Josef Joffe, "The New York Times Book Review" "Surprisingly readable and literate, even slyly funny . . . But just below the surface of his more-in-sorrow-than-in-anger tone lurks a deep and burning resentment, aimed primarily at the Bush administration and what he sees as the swashbuckling collection of chicken hawks, Vulcans and neoconservatives who have propelled us and our partners into a period of mayhem and muddle that Patten clearly believes is the most dangerous since the end of World War II."--Glenn Frankel, "The Washington Post Book World" "Freed from the shackles of various offices, Chris Patten] brings his peripatetic career and independent eye to bear on the fault lines and figures of international politics . . . sketching, and occasionally skewering, his subjects."--"Financial Times" "Useful and entertaining . . . Patten is eager to find through Europe an alternative to American dominance."--"The Wall Street Journal" "Former chair of the British Conservative Party, last British governor of Hong Kong, former European commissioner for external relations, and now chancellor of Oxford, Patten has put all of his narrative virtuosity, breadth of vision, common sense, and often hilarious verve into this magisterial volume--a cocktail of autobiography, political analysis of the state of the world, and policy prescriptions, peppered with priceless anecdotes and incisive portraits. The most salient part of the book is Pattens sharp condemnation of the recent unilateralist, militaristic turn in U.S. foreign pol

ISBN: 9780805082579