Of Paradise and Power

At a time when relations between the United States and Europe are at their lowest ebb since World War II, this brief but cogent book is essential reading. Robert Kagan, a leading scholar of American foreign policy, forces both sides to see themselves through the eyes of the other. Europe, he argues, has moved beyond power into a self-contained world of laws, rules, and negotiation, while America operates in a "Hobbesian" world where rules and laws are unreliable and military force is often necessary. Tracing how this state of affairs came into being over the past fifty years and fearlessly exploring its ramifications for the future, Kagan reveals the shape of the new transatlantic relationship. The result is a book that promises to be as enduringly influential as Samuel Huntington's The Clash of Civilizations. From the Trade Paperback edition.

Robert Kagan is senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, where he is director of the U.S. Leadership Project. In addition to a monthly column in the<i>Washington Post, </i>he is the author of <b>A Twilight Struggle: American Power and Nicaragua</b><i>, </i><b>1977-1990</b><i> </i>and coeditor, with William Kristol, of <b>Present Dangers: Crisis and Opportunity in American Foreign and Defense Policy</b><i>. </i>Kagan served in the State Department from 1984 to 1988.