Kashmeri, an Internet journalist who covers transatlantic business, discusses recent political relations between the U.S and Europe. Blaming the U.S. for their poor condition, especially for charging into Iraq in 2003, Kashmeri does acknowledge that revamping institutions such as NATO has generated friction independent of controversies surrounding Iraq. The U.S. posture toward the European Union is another source of strain; the government and business leaders of this country, according to Kashmeri, being unable to decide if the EU is a rival or a partner. Throughout the work, he includes observations on these points obtained from interviews with about a dozen prominent ex-officeholders of the stature of Brent Scowcroft and John Major. Intermittently, Kashmeri describes friction that plainly emanates from the European side, such as France's reach for the paramount role within the EU, but the author's perspective explicitly requires the U.S. to change its ways. Readers keeping current on transatlantic affairs will benefit from, if not universally subscribe to, this informed analysis.
Gilbert TaylorCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
"Kashmeri explains his perceptions of the sources of friction well, deftly interspersing his interviewees' comments to bolster his argument (the rather jolting candor of some comments, considering their sources, is a high point of the book)."
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Joint Forces Quarterly
"A leading national voice on European integration, and business policy, Kashmeri outlines the need for a new U.S./European Union alliance which will make America and the world a safer place, and repudiates the prevailing neoconservative view that a weakened European Union would benefit American interests at home and abroad. Despite the United States' diplomatically disastrous invasion of Iraq, Kashmeri describes realistic strategies to successfully achieve a new U.S./EU alliance and how such an alliance might salvage the unfolding quagmire in Iraq, and confront the worldwide roots of terrorism."
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U.S. Newswire
"Much ink has been spilt regarding the differences between Europe and the United States over the Iraq war and Kashmeri, like many others, sees the split as having roots in the changing transatlantic relationship. Basing part of his analysis on interviews with such figures as George H. W. Bush, Gen. Wesley Clark, former UK Prime Minister John Major, former US Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger, and former Spanish Foreign Minister Ana de Palacio, he argues that the Atlantic alliance has grown rotten and that the US needs a fresh approach that moves away from the tilt towards Britain and instead forges a special relationship with Europe as a whole and promotes multilateralism."
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Reference & Research Book News
"This slim volume punches well above its weight. Sarwar Kashmeri is steeped in the history of the last half-century of both European Union and transatlantic affairs, has reflected deeply on both, and has come up with an analysis that more resembles the elegant use of the stiletto than the crude swings of a pugilist….The recipe presented in the book to heal the transatlantic rift avoids the twin perils of trying to identify and redefine the common values shared by the two sides and offering prescriptions for revamping institutions."
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Foreign Policy Association Book Review
"Kashmeri, a fellow at the bipartisan Foreign Policy Association, strongly argues for the necessity of revitalizing the US-European Union political and strategic relationship to match their continuing economic relationship. His central argument is that the actions of neoconservatives, and in particular the George W. Bush administration, have through both hubris and ineptitude done great harm--though at this point not irreparable damage--to this relationship….Recommended. All readership levels."
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Choice
"The alliance between Europe and America is dead, commentator Sarwar Kashmeri maintains: it can't be fixed, and it must be renegotiated: that's the message of a title which considers different foreign policy priorities between the U.S. and Europe since 9/11, and divisions which grow ever greater as the years go by. America's trouble is that it's using Cold War strategies which are outdated in trying to handle changing European Union priorities and America and Europe After 9/11 and Iraq: The Great Divide charts these differences and offers foreign policy ideas which vastly revamp the relationships between the U.S. and the Union. Perfect for college-level libraries strong in international politics."
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Midwest Book Review
"[T]he author argues a new dialogue between the United States and the EU, especially important because of their common interest in fighting terrorism. He emphasizes how important it is for the United States to end its special relationship with Great Britain, symbolized in the partnership between Bush and former Prime Minister Tony Blair."
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Political Science Quarterly
