Choice for Europe

The creation of the European Union arguably ranks among the most extraordinary achievements in modern world politics. Observers disagree however about the reasons why European governments have chosen to co- ordinate core economic policies and surrender sovereign perogatives. This text analyzes the history of the region's movement toward economic and political union. Do these unifying steps demonstrate the pre-eminence of national security concerns the power of federalist ideals the skill of political entrepreneurs like Jean Monnet and Jacques Delors or the triumph of technocratic planning? Moravcsik rejects such views. Economic interdependence has been he maintains the primary force compelling these democracies to move in this surprising direction. Politicians rationally pursued national economic advantage through the exploitation of asymmetrical interdependence and the manipulation of institutional commitments.