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Europe's Intellectuals and the Cold War: The European Society of Culture, Post-War Politics and International Relations (International Library of Twentieth Century History)

by Nancy Jachec

In 1946, Europe's leading artists, philosophers and writers formed a transnational society designed to defuse the tensions left by World War II. The Society of European Culture was founded by some of Western Europe's most well-known intellectuals, including Albert Camus, André Gide, J.B. Haldane, Thomas Mann, Henri Matisse, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Schweitzer amongst others. The SEC created an informal but powerful political and cultural network across the world – seeking to enable dialogue between the Soviet East and the liberal West and further a 'trans-European' cultural ideal. Here, in the first complete history of the organization, Nancy Jachec demonstrates the profound influence its members exercised during the signing of the Helsinki Accords of 1975. Its founder and chairman, Umberto Campagnolo, was nominated twice for the Nobel Peace prize, and is one of the great 'forgotten men' of a crucial period in world history, as the Iron Curtain fell.

Europe's Intellectuals and the Cold War: The European Society of Culture, Post-War Politics and International Relations

by Nancy Jachec

In 1950, nearly 300 of Europe's leading artists, philosophers and writers formed an international society intended to end the Cold War. The European Society of Culture was composed of many of Western Europe's best-known intellectuals, including Theodor Adorno, Julien Benda, Albert Camus, Benedetto Croce, Andre Gide, J. B. Haldane, Karl Jaspers, Carl Jung, Thomas Mann, Henri Matisse, Francois Mauriac, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Jean-Paul Sartre, Giuseppe Ungaretti and Albert Schweitzer, among many others; over the next twenty years it would also include many luminaries from the East, such as Bertolt Brecht, Ernst Bloch, Ilya Ehrenburg and Georg Lukacs. Pioneering the earliest political discussions between intellectuals in Eastern and Western Europe that would serve as a model for the activities of the better-known CCF in its efforts to end communism, the ESC went on to create an informal but powerful, 1,600 member-strong cultural and political network across the world in pursuit of dialogue between the Marxist East and the liberal West, and in pursuit of peace and shared cultural values.Here, in this first, comprehensive history of the SEC's early years, Nancy Jachec demonstrates the influence its members had not only on preventing the isolation of Europe's eastern states, but on enabling the flow of people, publications and ideas from the West into the East, thus playing a vital role in introducing the ideals of human rights and cultural rights in the East in the run-up to the signing of the Helsinki Accords of 1975. She also shows the profound impact that the SEC had on the development of post-colonial theory through the exchanges it organised between European and African intellectuals, directly shaping the expectations statesmen like Leopold Sedar Senghor, revolutionaries like Frantz Fanon, and institutions such as Unesco would have of culture in newly emerging countries.

Europe's Languages on England's Stages, 1590–1620

by Marianne Montgomery

Though representations of alien languages on the early modern stage have usually been read as mocking, xenophobic, or at the very least extremely anxious, listening closely to these languages in the drama of Shakespeare and his contemporaries, Marianne Montgomery discerns a more complex reality. She argues instead that the drama of the early modern period holds up linguistic variety as a source of strength and offers playgoers a cosmopolitan engagement with the foreign that, while still sometimes anxious, complicates easy national distinctions. The study surveys six of the European languages heard on London's commercial stages during the three decades between 1590 and 1620-Welsh, French, Dutch, Spanish, Irish and Latin-and the distinct sets of cultural issues that they made audible. Exploring issues of culture and performance raised by representations of European languages on the stage, this book joins and advances two critical conversations on early modern drama. It both works to recover English relations with alien cultures in the period by looking at how such encounters were staged, and treats sound and performance as essential to understanding what Europe's languages meant in the theater. Europe's Languages on England's Stages, 1590-1620 contributes to our emerging sense of how local identities and global knowledge in early modern England were necessarily shaped by encounters with nearby lands, particularly encounters staged for aural consumption.

Europe's Languages on England's Stages, 1590–1620

by Marianne Montgomery

Though representations of alien languages on the early modern stage have usually been read as mocking, xenophobic, or at the very least extremely anxious, listening closely to these languages in the drama of Shakespeare and his contemporaries, Marianne Montgomery discerns a more complex reality. She argues instead that the drama of the early modern period holds up linguistic variety as a source of strength and offers playgoers a cosmopolitan engagement with the foreign that, while still sometimes anxious, complicates easy national distinctions. The study surveys six of the European languages heard on London's commercial stages during the three decades between 1590 and 1620-Welsh, French, Dutch, Spanish, Irish and Latin-and the distinct sets of cultural issues that they made audible. Exploring issues of culture and performance raised by representations of European languages on the stage, this book joins and advances two critical conversations on early modern drama. It both works to recover English relations with alien cultures in the period by looking at how such encounters were staged, and treats sound and performance as essential to understanding what Europe's languages meant in the theater. Europe's Languages on England's Stages, 1590-1620 contributes to our emerging sense of how local identities and global knowledge in early modern England were necessarily shaped by encounters with nearby lands, particularly encounters staged for aural consumption.

Europe's Last Chance: Why the European States Must Form a More Perfect Union

by Guy Verhofstadt

In the heart of Europe's current crisis, one of the continent's foremost statesmen issues a clarion call to radically remake the European Union in the mold of the United States' own federal governmentEurope is caught in its greatest crisis since the Second World War. The catalog of ills seems endless: an economic crisis spread through most of Europe's Mediterranean tier that has crippled Greece and driven a wedge between northern and southern Europe; terrorist attacks in Paris, Cologne, Brussels, and Nice; growing aggression from Russia in Ukraine and the Baltic states; and refugees escaping war-torn neighbors. The European Union's inability to handle any of these disasters was a driving factor in Great Britain voting to leave, and others may soon follow. The result won't just be a continent in turmoil, but also a serious threat to American and British security-the Atlantic, let alone the Channel, simply isn't big enough to keep European troubles in Europe. For everyone's sake, Europe must survive.The question is how. In Europe's Last Chance, Guy Verhofstadt-former prime minister of Belgium and current leader of the liberal faction in the European Parliament-provides the essential framework for understanding Europe today, laying bare the absurdity of a system in which each member state can veto legislation, opt in or out of the Euro, or close borders on a whim. But Verhofstadt does not just indict the European Union, he also offers a powerful vision for how the continent can change for the better. The key, argues Verhofstadt, is to reform the European Union along the lines of America's federal government: a United States of Europe strong enough to stand with the United States of America in making a better, safer world.A visionary book from one of today's luminaries of European leadership, Europe's Last Chance is a clarion call to save the European Union, one of the world's greatest chances for peace and prosperity.

Europe's Last Chance: Why the European States Must Form a More Perfect Union

by Guy Verhofstadt

In the heart of Europe's current crisis, one of the continent's foremost statesmen issues a clarion call to radically remake the European Union in the mold of the United States' own federal government Europe is caught in its greatest crisis since the Second World War. The catalog of ills seems endless: an economic crisis spread through most of Europe's Mediterranean tier that has crippled Greece and driven a wedge between northern and southern Europe; terrorist attacks in Paris, Cologne, Brussels, and Nice; growing aggression from Russia in Ukraine and the Baltic states; and refugees escaping war-torn neighbors. The European Union's inability to handle any of these disasters was a driving factor in Great Britain voting to leave, and others may soon follow. The result won't just be a continent in turmoil, but also a serious threat to American and British security-the Atlantic, let alone the Channel, simply isn't big enough to keep European troubles in Europe. For everyone's sake, Europe must survive. The question is how. In Europe's Last Chance, Guy Verhofstadt-former prime minister of Belgium and current leader of the liberal faction in the European Parliament-provides the essential framework for understanding Europe today, laying bare the absurdity of a system in which each member state can veto legislation, opt in or out of the Euro, or close borders on a whim. But Verhofstadt does not just indict the European Union, he also offers a powerful vision for how the continent can change for the better. The key, argues Verhofstadt, is to reform the European Union along the lines of America's federal government: a United States of Europe strong enough to stand with the United States of America in making a better, safer world. A visionary book from one of today's luminaries of European leadership, Europe's Last Chance is a clarion call to save the European Union, one of the world's greatest chances for peace and prosperity.

Europe's Last Frontier?: Belarus, Moldova, and Ukraine between Russia and the European Union

by Oliver Schmidtke S. Yekelchyk

Three former western Soviet republics - Ukraine, Belarus, and Moldova - now find themselves torn between the European Union and the increasingly assertive Russia. This volume examines the foreign and domestic policies of these states with an eye to the lasting legacy of Russian domination and the growing attraction of Europe.

Europe's Last Summer: Who Started The Great War In 1914?

by David Fromkin

The Great War not only destroyed the lives of over twenty million soldiers and civilians, it also ushered in a century of huge political and social upheaval, led directly to the Second World War and altered for ever the mechanisms of governments. And yet its causes, both long term and immediate, have continued to be shrouded in mystery. In Europe's Last Summer, David Fromkin reveals a new pattern in the happenings of that fateful July and August, which leads in unexpected directions. Rather than one war, starting with the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, he sees two conflicts, related but not inseparably linked, whose management drew Europe and the world into what The Economist described as early as 1914 as 'perhaps the greatest tragedy in human history'.

Europe's Long Twelfth Century: Order, Anxiety and Adaptation, 1095-1229 (European History in Perspective)

by John Cotts

Between 1095 and 1229, Western Europe confronted a series of alternative cultural possibilities that would fundamentally transform its social structures, its intellectual life, and its very identity. It was a period of difficult decisions and anxiety rather than a triumphant 'renaissance'.In this fresh reassessment of the twelfth century, John D. Cotts:• shows how new social, economic and religious options challenged Europeans to re-imagine their place in the world• provides an overview of political life and detailed examples of the original thought and religious enthusiasm of the time• presents the Crusades as the century's defining movement.Ideal for students and scholars alike, this is an essential overview of a pivotal era in medieval history that arguably paved the way for a united Europe.

Europe's Long Twelfth Century: Order, Anxiety And Adaptation, 1095-1229 (PDF)

by John D. Cotts

Between 1095 and 1229, Western Europe confronted a series of alternative cultural possibilities that would fundamentally transform its social structures, its intellectual life, and its very identity. It was a period of difficult decisions and anxiety rather than a triumphant "renaissance. " In this fresh reassessment of the twelfth century, John D. Cotts: * shows how new social, economic and religious options challenged Europeans to re-imagine their place in the world * provides an overview of political life and detailed examples of the original thought and religious enthusiasm of the time * presents the Crusades as the century's defining movement. Ideal for students and scholars alike, this is an essential overview of a pivotal era in medieval history that arguably paved the way for a united Europe.

Europe's Myths of Orient: Devise and Rule (pdf)

by Rana Kabbani

Europe's Orphan: The Future of the Euro and the Politics of Debt

by Martin Sandbu

Originally conceived as part of a unifying vision for Europe, the euro is now viewed as a millstone around the neck of a continent crippled by vast debts, sluggish economies, and growing populist dissent. In Europe's Orphan, leading economic commentator Martin Sandbu presents a compelling defense of the euro. He argues that rather than blaming the euro for the political and economic failures in Europe since the global financial crisis, the responsibility lies firmly on the authorities of the eurozone and its member countries. The eurozone's self-inflicted financial calamities and economic decline resulted from a toxic cocktail of unforced policy errors by bankers, politicians, and bureaucrats; the unhealthy coziness between finance and governments; and, above all, an extreme unwillingness to restructure debt.Sandbu traces the origins of monetary union back to the desire for greater European unity after the Second World War. But the euro’s creation coincided with a credit bubble that governments chose not to rein in. Once the crisis hit, a battle of both ideas and interests led to the failure to aggressively restructure sovereign and bank debt. Ideologically informed choices set in motion dynamics that encouraged more economic mistakes and heightened political tensions within the eurozone. Sandbu concludes that the prevailing view that monetary union can only work with fiscal and political union is wrong and dangerous—and risks sending the continent into further political paralysis and economic stagnation.Contending that the euro has been wrongfully scapegoated for the eurozone’s troubles, Europe’s Orphan charts what actually must be done for the continent to achieve an economic and political recovery.This revised edition contains a new preface addressing the economic and political implications of Brexit, as well as updated text throughout. Europe’s Orphan charts what actually must be done for the continent to achieve a full recovery.

Europe's Orphan: The Future of the Euro and the Politics of Debt

by Martin Sandbu

Originally conceived as part of a unifying vision for Europe, the euro is now viewed as a millstone around the neck of a continent crippled by vast debts, sluggish economies, and growing populist dissent. In Europe's Orphan, leading economic commentator Martin Sandbu presents a compelling defense of the euro. He argues that rather than blaming the euro for the political and economic failures in Europe since the global financial crisis, the responsibility lies firmly on the authorities of the eurozone and its member countries. The eurozone's self-inflicted financial calamities and economic decline resulted from a toxic cocktail of unforced policy errors by bankers, politicians, and bureaucrats; the unhealthy coziness between finance and governments; and, above all, an extreme unwillingness to restructure debt.Sandbu traces the origins of monetary union back to the desire for greater European unity after the Second World War. But the euro’s creation coincided with a credit bubble that governments chose not to rein in. Once the crisis hit, a battle of both ideas and interests led to the failure to aggressively restructure sovereign and bank debt. Ideologically informed choices set in motion dynamics that encouraged more economic mistakes and heightened political tensions within the eurozone. Sandbu concludes that the prevailing view that monetary union can only work with fiscal and political union is wrong and dangerous—and risks sending the continent into further political paralysis and economic stagnation.Contending that the euro has been wrongfully scapegoated for the eurozone’s troubles, Europe’s Orphan charts what actually must be done for the continent to achieve an economic and political recovery.This revised edition contains a new preface addressing the economic and political implications of Brexit, as well as updated text throughout. Europe’s Orphan charts what actually must be done for the continent to achieve a full recovery.

Europe's Postwar Periods - 1989, 1945, 1918: Writing History Backwards

by Martin Conway Pieter Lagrou Henry Rousso

This book brings together world-renowned scholars from all over Europe to analyse how successive Europes have been constructed in the wake of the key conflicts of the period: the Cold War and the two World Wars. By regressively tracing Europe's path back to these pivotal moments as part of a unique methodology, Europe's Postwar Periods - 1989, 1945, 1918 reveals the defining characteristics of these postwar periods and integrates the changes that followed 1989 into a more substantial historical perspective. The author team address the crucial themes in recent European history on a chapter-by-chapter basis that gives comprehensive coverage to the whole of the European region for topics such as borders, states, empires, democracy, justice, markets and futures. The volume highlights the fact that Europe was made less by wars than is commonly thought, and more by the nature of the settlements – international, national, political, economic and social – that followed the two World Wars and the Cold War. It is an important, innovative text for all students and scholars of 20th-century European history.

Europe's Postwar Periods - 1989, 1945, 1918: Writing History Backwards

by Martin Conway Pieter Lagrou Henry Rousso

This book brings together world-renowned scholars from all over Europe to analyse how successive Europes have been constructed in the wake of the key conflicts of the period: the Cold War and the two World Wars. By regressively tracing Europe's path back to these pivotal moments as part of a unique methodology, Europe's Postwar Periods - 1989, 1945, 1918 reveals the defining characteristics of these postwar periods and integrates the changes that followed 1989 into a more substantial historical perspective. The author team address the crucial themes in recent European history on a chapter-by-chapter basis that gives comprehensive coverage to the whole of the European region for topics such as borders, states, empires, democracy, justice, markets and futures. The volume highlights the fact that Europe was made less by wars than is commonly thought, and more by the nature of the settlements – international, national, political, economic and social – that followed the two World Wars and the Cold War. It is an important, innovative text for all students and scholars of 20th-century European history.

Europe's Prolonged Crisis: The Making or the Unmaking of a Political Union (PDF)

by Hans-Jörg Trenz Carlo Ruzza Virginie Guiraudon

This volume outlines a political sociology of crisis in Europe, focusing on state and society transformations in the context of the 2008 financial and monetary crisis and its aftermath in Europe. Dysfunctions of the market and the European economic and monetary system pose severe challenges to the legitimacy of political order at national, European and global level. In this collection, the contributors investigate how the crisis undermines the integrity of political institutions and democratic government at EU and member state level, and analyse how the experiences of social deprivation are translated into political conflict and cleavages across the European space. Evidence is provided for how the return of redistributive conflicts correlates with a 'new politics of identity', nationalism, regionalism and expressions of Euroscepticism. Crisis affects patterns of social exclusion but, as this book reveals, it can also activate social networks and impacts on new forms of solidarity,which are emerging locally and transnationally.

Europe's Red Terrorists: The Fighting Communist Organizations

by Yonah Alexander Dennis A. Pluchinsky

This unique volume explores Europe's most dangerous communist terrorist organizations and reveals how they use violence as a means of political communication and persuasion. It outlines seven terrorist groups from Germany, Greece, Spain, France, Belgium, Italy and Turkey and gives their modus operandi, rationale and political messages in translated communiqués never before available in English.

Europe's Red Terrorists: The Fighting Communist Organizations

by Yonah Alexander Dennis A. Pluchinsky

This unique volume explores Europe's most dangerous communist terrorist organizations and reveals how they use violence as a means of political communication and persuasion. It outlines seven terrorist groups from Germany, Greece, Spain, France, Belgium, Italy and Turkey and gives their modus operandi, rationale and political messages in translated communiqués never before available in English.

Europe's Relations with North Africa: Politics, Economics and Security (Library of European Studies)

by Adam Yousef

The rapid evolution of events in the European, Middle Eastern, and North African spheres has reinvigorated the debate on Euro-Mediterranean relations. Since 1995 these relations have operated under the auspices of the Barcelona Process, which laid the foundations for three initiatives that define European policy towards neighbouring states: the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership, the European Neighbourhood Policy, and the Union for the Mediterranean. This book scrutinises these initiatives through a socioeconomic prism. Adam Yousef reviews how appropriate these initiatives have been in promoting socioeconomic development in North African states, projects the long-term implications of these policies and investigates whether they can reduce the gap in social outcomes across the Mediterranean Basin over time. Using Morocco as a case study, this book employs a mixed-methods approach, combining qualitative and quantitative data as well as economic theory. It reveals not only that the Barcelona Process has had a limited impact on promoting social outcomes in Morocco, but crucially that it is also unlikely to do so in the future, suggesting a new approach may be required.

Europe's Rich Fabric: The Consumption, Commercialisation, and Production of Luxury Textiles in Italy, the Low Countries and Neighbouring Territories (Fourteenth-Sixteenth Centuries)

by Bart Lambert Katherine Anne Wilson

Throughout human history luxury textiles have been used as a marker of importance, power and distinction. Yet, as the essays in this collection make clear, the term 'luxury' is one that can be fraught with difficulties for historians. Focusing upon the consumption, commercialisation and production of luxury textiles in Italy and the Low Countries during the late medieval and early modern period, this volume offers a fascinating exploration of the varied and subtle ways that luxury could be interpreted and understood in the past. Beginning with the consumption of luxury textiles, it takes the reader on a journey back from the market place, to the commercialisation of rich fabrics by an international network of traders, before arriving at the workshop to explore the Italian and Burgundian world of production of damasks, silks and tapestries. The first part of the volume deals with the consumption of luxury textiles, through an investigation of courtly purchases, as well as urban and clerical markets, before the chapters in part two move on to explore the commercialisation of luxury textiles by merchants who facilitated their trade from the cities of Lucca, Florence and Venice. The third part then focusses upon manufacture, encouraging consideration of the concept of luxury during this period through the Italian silk industry and the production of high-quality woollens in the Low Countries. Graeme Small draws the various themes of the volume together in a conclusion that suggests profitable future avenues of research into this important subject.

Europe's Rich Fabric: The Consumption, Commercialisation, and Production of Luxury Textiles in Italy, the Low Countries and Neighbouring Territories (Fourteenth-Sixteenth Centuries)

by Bart Lambert Katherine Anne Wilson

Throughout human history luxury textiles have been used as a marker of importance, power and distinction. Yet, as the essays in this collection make clear, the term 'luxury' is one that can be fraught with difficulties for historians. Focusing upon the consumption, commercialisation and production of luxury textiles in Italy and the Low Countries during the late medieval and early modern period, this volume offers a fascinating exploration of the varied and subtle ways that luxury could be interpreted and understood in the past. Beginning with the consumption of luxury textiles, it takes the reader on a journey back from the market place, to the commercialisation of rich fabrics by an international network of traders, before arriving at the workshop to explore the Italian and Burgundian world of production of damasks, silks and tapestries. The first part of the volume deals with the consumption of luxury textiles, through an investigation of courtly purchases, as well as urban and clerical markets, before the chapters in part two move on to explore the commercialisation of luxury textiles by merchants who facilitated their trade from the cities of Lucca, Florence and Venice. The third part then focusses upon manufacture, encouraging consideration of the concept of luxury during this period through the Italian silk industry and the production of high-quality woollens in the Low Countries. Graeme Small draws the various themes of the volume together in a conclusion that suggests profitable future avenues of research into this important subject.

Europe's Steppe Frontier, 1500-1800

by William H. McNeill

In Europe’s Steppe Frontier, acclaimed historian William H. McNeill analyzes the process whereby the thinly occupied grasslands of southeastern Europe were incorporated into the bodies-social of three great empires: the Ottoman, the Austrian, and the Russian. McNeill benefits from a New World detachment from the bitter nationality quarrels of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century which inspired but also blinded most of the historians of the region. Moreover, the unique institutional adjustments southeastern Europeans made to the frontier challenge cast indirect light upon the peculiarities of the North American frontier experience.

Europe's Steppe Frontier, 1500-1800

by William H. McNeill

In Europe’s Steppe Frontier, acclaimed historian William H. McNeill analyzes the process whereby the thinly occupied grasslands of southeastern Europe were incorporated into the bodies-social of three great empires: the Ottoman, the Austrian, and the Russian. McNeill benefits from a New World detachment from the bitter nationality quarrels of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century which inspired but also blinded most of the historians of the region. Moreover, the unique institutional adjustments southeastern Europeans made to the frontier challenge cast indirect light upon the peculiarities of the North American frontier experience.

Europe's Steppe Frontier, 1500-1800

by William H. McNeill

In Europe’s Steppe Frontier, acclaimed historian William H. McNeill analyzes the process whereby the thinly occupied grasslands of southeastern Europe were incorporated into the bodies-social of three great empires: the Ottoman, the Austrian, and the Russian. McNeill benefits from a New World detachment from the bitter nationality quarrels of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century which inspired but also blinded most of the historians of the region. Moreover, the unique institutional adjustments southeastern Europeans made to the frontier challenge cast indirect light upon the peculiarities of the North American frontier experience.

Europe's Steppe Frontier, 1500-1800

by William H. McNeill

In Europe’s Steppe Frontier, acclaimed historian William H. McNeill analyzes the process whereby the thinly occupied grasslands of southeastern Europe were incorporated into the bodies-social of three great empires: the Ottoman, the Austrian, and the Russian. McNeill benefits from a New World detachment from the bitter nationality quarrels of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century which inspired but also blinded most of the historians of the region. Moreover, the unique institutional adjustments southeastern Europeans made to the frontier challenge cast indirect light upon the peculiarities of the North American frontier experience.

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