Europe in Crisis: The Future of the EU and Transatlantic Relations

“Why keep the Euro at any cost?” (Stephanie Walter, University of Zurich)

“The United Kingdom is caught in an anti-distribution cycle, and a house is ‘private insurance.’ . . .The soft bigotry of post-code difference really matters in the UK. And homeowners were the core of the Remain vote.” (Ben Ansell, University of Oxford)

“The EU in the 1990s promised its citizens that it could protect them from the negative effects of globalization but keep all the good effects. This is not possible, and has resulted in an existential crisis.” (Sophie Meunier, Princeton)

“Of course there’s a fundamental skepticism today about the value of the EU. Economic ‘facts’ have real human costs—witness the 40 percent unemployment rate for Spanish youth.” (Peter Hall, Harvard University)

These are just a few of the compelling, and troubling, ideas presented by world-renowned scholars on the European Union, who convened at the University of Wisconsin-Madison from April 6-8, 2017. Topics included the future of Europe and the EU, the impact of its economic and political crises on international security, the global economy, and the uncertain future of the post-WWII transatlantic relationship. The profusion of words such as “crisis” and “skepticism” in the opening quotes suggests pessimism about the future of a united Europe—yet solutions were also proffered.

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