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Political Integration and Alliances

C/P/24. European Integration: realpolitik and culture

WORDS:

2000

DATE:

2004

PRICE:

29.99 GBP

The essay briefly considers theories of European integration: federalist, functionalist, neo-functionalist and intergovernmentalist, concluding that the functionalist interpretation is a powerful instrument for understanding the „how&'381, of the European integration. The second part of the essay considers the question of „why&'381, ‰ what prompted the European integration in the first place. The essay makes a strong argument to the effect that the constraints of the Cold War and the American pressure forced Europe into a „closer Union&'381, in the early 1950s. However, the fall of the Berlin Wall undermined the Cold War integration impetus, and Europe was briefly left without a purpose, struggling to come to terms with the questions: „what is Europe?&'381,, „what is European identity&'381,. The essay argues that the problem facing the European integration process today is that of „why&'381, rather than „how&'381, to integrate.

KEYWORDS: european, integration, realpolitik, culture,