European Integration Essay

Europe now, for the first time in modern history, is a partnership sharing common values and a commitment to harmony and cooperation. The dream of European integration, shared by the United States, is now being realized, leaving behind us the wasteful era of wars, hostility, and inequalities. We are on the road to a Europe enjoying a unity and

World War II was one of history’s most devastating conflicts, it presented countless challenges so leaders world wide looked for ways to make the world a safer place. Leaders looked to form International Organizations, an international alliance involving many different countries with global authorization. They wanted to urge peace and security; leaders felt having a strong military is important along with peace through which states can work together to achieve a common goal, where governments can make agreements and band together. So they formed League of Nations superseded by United Nations, North Atlantic Treaty (NATO) and the Warsaw Pact.

After the First World War, people felt the necessity of an international organization with the task of maintaining global peace. After the 1st World War the League of Nations was the outcome of that feeling, but it was found that nations were unwilling to give any international authority the jurisdiction over their lands. But after the result of these selfish policies the Second World War started. At the close of this second catastrophic war, the minds of men turned again to evoke a more effective world organization, to establish peace and mutual understanding.

Economic interdependence, or globalization, can produce agreements on certain norms and will lead to more peaceful outcomes. Global markets as well as international institutions compel states to cooperate. By participating in institutions, states are given the opportunity to facilitate rules and norms and bring adversaries together without the use of force. Liberals also believe that powerful states should act with restraint when using their power and find ways to show their commitments to other states.

An increase in technology as well as rising globalization has brought the world closer together in a way, and this has created a need for states to become more interdependent of one another. For example, an economic decline in China could have negative impact on the economy of North American countries. In the same way, a communist revolution in one country could result in communist revolutions in neighboring countries as well. The point is that since countries are now so closely connected to one another, international organizations are needed in order to maintain rules and

The Europe of the future, if it should ever emerge, will be one of the mass identification and loyalty to the European ideal, alongside or even in place of national allegiances and identities, such that large numbers of the inhabitants of the European continent will not only consider themselves to be first and foremost ‘Europeans’ but will be prepared to make sacrifices for that ideal. [7]

European Union represents economic and political partnership of 28 states, with population more than 500 million people who can travel within its territory without considering internal borders. It operates as a single market with standardized laws and guaranteed freedom of movement of people, goods, services and capital. As such, European Union is attractive destination for all kind of immigrants, from people in search of a better life from unfortunate and unstable regions to highly qualified work force who are looking for greater business opportunities. As European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said in an interview for Time Magazine (Oct. 24,2007) “Europe is an

Secondly, there are even the accentuates mutual benefits and international cooperation which means that are in international relations, multilateralism is a kind of alliance where multiple countries progress to any given goal. And it also implements international organization and also nongovernmental actors for shaping the state preference and also even their policy choices. The liberals believe that the international institution plays a key role in the cooperation among all states. Even with the correct international, and with increasing interdependence which also includes the economic and the cultural exchange all states have a large opportunity to reduce all conflict that is happening at the time. Other Liberals emphasize democracy and civil liberties. And that liberalism is the political doctrine that takes protecting and enhancing the freedom of the individual to be the central problem of politics. It's also a political philosophy or worldview founded on ideas of Liberty and equality, depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally they support ideas and programs such as freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of religion, free markets, and civil rights. Democratic societies, gender equality and international cooperation when it became popular.

Liberalism is another concept that has significant arguments regarding international relations. Liberal economics have determined the shape of the monetary system and support the concept of open markets, where individuals have the freedom to engage in commerce. Unlike realists, liberals oppose mercantilism and the zero-sum game much like the countries in NAFTA. This disagreement is the cause of many disagreements during the NAFTA negotiations. If countries are able to work together and trust one another to attain power, conflict is less likely to occur and overall economic wealth for countries can be gained. Through free trade, the goal is to have a decreased amount of wasted resources on inefficient production because the more individuals that engage in this collective use of resources the more likely the system would become efficient and acquire heightened economic gains such as wealth. ) Finally, there is the liberal institutionalism perspective which approves of regimes and international organizations. Utilizing these rules through rapid growth of regimes, regulate economic affairs, determine which activities are allowed and disallowed, and assure that

     After the tragedies of World War II, European leaders have made striving efforts to prevent such a catastrophic event from occurring on their continent again. The best solution seemed to be highly mechanized cooperation among the highest European powers to assure that future conflict, and perhaps war, could not arise between them. If all the states ran themselves in a manner cooperating with their neighbors, conflict could be avoided. To prevent other nations from not cooperating, treaties and institutions would have to be designed for each area of international interest such as trade, communications, security, and so forth. As the century progressed, more organizations, institutions and associations were

The various political and cultural differences that the European Union nations have are the main qualities of why this system is not efficient. In the article: One Europe, Two Citizens by Pavel Kelly-Tychtl, the author argues that the European Union will have many difficulties to succeed because of the multiple differences that these nations possess. Published in the year 2003, the article appeals to the values of people and their feelings towards loosing their identity and nationalism towards their country. The main ideas of this article are trying to prove that the European Union is not the best system to unite nations in the world.

The European countries were not strong to handle the aftermath of the second world war individually, they were in need of some sort of unification to help them rise back up in order to develop a new life for its citizens. (Dutta, 2011) Winston Churchill, the British Prime Minister expressed that when he said “It is to recreate the European Family to provide it with a structure under which it can dwell in peace, in safety and in freedom. We must build a kind of United States of Europe.’’1

In 1949, the Council of Europe was formed in an attempt to create a European parliament that would help aid European integration, as a means to prevent the threat of a war arising between traditional enemies (i.e. France and Germany) and to create a combined front against a new threat in the form of the Soviet Union . The Council of Europe was created as a forum where enemies could seek diplomatic solutions and promote political and economic cooperation in Europe, rather than go to war with each other . The creation of the Council of Europe is what inspired other European nations to seek a comprehensive alignment treaty that incorporated deeper levels of cooperation amongst European nations, this motivation led to the creation of the European Coal and Steel Community, as a means to protect the safety of workers in Europe.

     The notions of “modernity,” “modernization,” and “modernism” play an important role in better understanding the development of Europe. These three concepts can be applied to a range of transformations in the areas of politics, socio-economics, and culture respectively. The three concepts are connected, yet each has its own unique qualities that are useful in understanding the changes across Europe in this period. These ideas are crucial to the better comprehension of the creation of the Europe of today.

The next chapter represents an attempt to develop new understandings of the problems related to the European process of integration. More specifically, the aim of this section is to outline the possible mechanisms that, in being conducive of socialization, can push member states to ‘work together’ and to think in terms of ‘common problems’ and ‘common concerns’.