Europas Politik vor neuen Herausforderungen

Europe remains a continent in transition. It suffers from the deficits and profits from the advantages of European integration. The European context is crucial for the ability of EU member states to respond adequately to new often global challenges such as terrorism, the violation of human rights or the consequences of the end of communism in Europe. This volume develops these topics in several contexts. The first is a historic one which reflects on two core elements of European identity: Franco-German relations and the legacy of communist dictatorships. For Germany, for example, the way society and the media deal with East Germany’s past and self-image is still a burning issue. The second context is the party political approach to social challenges. This volume takes for example a closer look at the future of catch-all parties, the way politics could deal with extremist parties, or the chances parties or interest groups have which fight for political minorities in the Baltic states or human rights in Russia. A third context in which the traditional ways of European societies are challenged today is the wave of administration reforms ranging from new public management to public private partnerships. The economic rationality behind such reforms is not always compatible with what politics or interest groups may want to define as common good. A fourth context of global challenges to the fabric of European societies is international terrorism, which is discussed in greater detail as a threat to the United States, Germany, the UK, Spain and Russia. Not only definitions of the terrorist challenge vary in this context, but also strategies to combat terrorism.