Includes bibliographical references and index.

Timeline of events leading to the current state of the European Unio n. The European outlook / Ronald Tiersky, Saskia van Genugten, and Erik Jones -- Country Studies. France: the Sarkozy presidency in historical perspective / Gabriel Goodliffe -- Great Britain: from New Labour to n ew politics? / Jonathan Hopkin -- Germany: two decades of passage from Bonn to Berlin / Helga A. Welsh -- Italy: politics in the age of Berlus coni / Gianfranco Baldini -- Scandinavia: still the middle way? / Eric S. Einhorn and John Logue -- Russia: European or not? / Bruce Parrott - - Poland 20 years later: the long arm of transition / Ben Stanley -- Th ematic Chapters. European integration: progress and uncertainty / John Van Oudenaren -- Economic governance and varieties of capitalism / Bene dicta Marzinotto -- Europe and the global economic crisis / Erik Jones -- European law and politics / R. Daniel Kelemen -- Migration in Europe / Jonathan W. Moses -- Still at the crossroads: Europe, the United Sta tes, and NATO / Simon Duke and Roberta Haar.

This book, a true twenty-first-century enterprise, offers a sustaine d and unified set of both country case studies and analysis of the Euro pean Union. The contributors, an authoritative group of Americans and E uropeans, explore the new Europe, West and East, using intertwining the mes of domestic politics, European integration, and European security. Each chapter provides a foundation of basic political information and e xplanation, enhanced by distinctive and informed perspectives on curren t issues. It presents an up-to-date treatment of the war in Iraq, deba tes over NATO's evolving role, U.S.-European relations, enlargement iss ues, and the challenges of terrorism in a European context. With its s trong international emphasis and focus on Europe before and after Iraq, this book leads readers toward a coherent view of intra-European confl icts, Europe and the United States, and Europe's international responsi bilities. A new website devoted exclusively to the book, with regularly updated statistics, analysis, and links for each chapter, provides a r esource for those seeking additional information.