Synopses & Reviews
“A magisterial volumea cocktail of autobiography, political analysis of the state of the world, and policy prescriptions.” Foreign AffairsFor fifty years, the Americans, British, and Europeans were close partners, yet today the Western alliance is strained to a moment of reckoning. In Cousins and Strangers, Chris Patten, one of Europes most distinguished statesmen, scrutinizes what has happened in the years since the fall of the Berlin Wall, pinpointing the shifts in power and security that have reshaped our world.
In penetrating and sparkling analysis, Patten argues that to face the urgent threats of the twenty-first centuryterrorism, nuclear proliferation, failed and failing states, massive environmental changethe Western alliance must stop bickering and kowtowing and start asserting cooperative leadership. Bad habits and easy, self-absorbed slogans must give way to smart politics in order to ensure the worlds, and our own, best interests. Drawing on his decades of experience in government and international diplomacy, Patten sharply assesses the leadership of the United States, Great Britain, and Europe, and the stakes for all three if the West breaks apart. Chris Patten, chancellor of Oxford and Newcastle universities, was from 1999 until 2004 European commissioner for external relations. He was previously the member of Parliament for Bath, chairman of the Conservative Party, and the last British governor of Hong Kong. He is the author of East and West: China, Power, and the Future of Asia. He lives in London. For fifty years, the Americans, British, and Europeans have been close strategic partners. After the Second World War, the United States helped preserve freedom in half of Europe and gave the West a remarkable half century of (for the most part) peace and prosperity. Yet today the Western alliance is strained to a moment of reckoning. In Cousins and Strangers, Chris Patten scrutinizes what has happened in the years since the fall of the Berlin Wall, making sense of the fundamental shifts in international power that now shape out world, and making the case for reestablishing a strong and effective Western alliance in the years ahead. To face the urgent threats of the twenty-first centuryterrorism, nuclear proliferation, fissures between rich and poor nations, failed and failing states, massive environmental changethe United States, Great Britain, and Europe must stop the bickering and assert cooperative leadership. Bad habits and easy, self-absorbed slogans must give way to smart politics in order to ensure our best interests. Patten, who served as the last British governor of Hong Kong and the European Union's diplomatic liaison to the rest of the world, shows how this responsibility falls on all three partners: * America's gunslinging attitudes and "you're with us or against us" unilateralism have alienated its friends in addition to its enemies. The United States must shun the imperial mantle, renew its commitment to global governance, and take on a leadership roleand a larger share of the expensesin environmental and economic management. * The United Kingdom has acted more like a poodle than a partner to its American cousins, undermining Britain's own strategic interests at home and in Europe. Britain must reinvent the "special relationship" as a channel for persuading America to follow Europe's multilateral principles rather than as a cover for American unilateralism. * Europe, particularly France, has pushed back against a strong European Unionexcept as a free-trade zone and as a forum for sniping at U.S. policy. Europe must step up as a military and political leader just as it has on the economic front, taking on a larger share of the responsibility for security and policing that have previously been left to the United States. Drawing on his decades of experiences in elected government and international diplomacy, Patten investigates the three-way relationship among America, Britain, and Europe, and show how all three must adapt to cope with the economic and political challenges of the twenty-first century. "A brilliantly catty and nicely constructed textso felicitous in its language and subtle in its jabs that one wishes for a bit more."Josef Joffe, The New York Times Book Review "A brilliantly catty and nicely constructed textso felicitous in its language and subtle in its jabs that one wishes for a bit more."Josef Joffe, The New York Times Book Review “Surprisingly readable and literate, even slyly funny . . . But just below the surface of his more-in-sorrow-than-in-anger tone lurks a deep and burning resentment, aimed primarily at the Bush administration and what he sees as the swashbuckling collection of chicken hawks, Vulcans and neoconservatives who have propelled us and our partners into a period of mayhem and muddle that Patten clearly believes is the most dangerous since the end of World War II.”Glenn Frankel, The Washington Post Book World "Freed from the shackles of various offices, [Chris Patten] brings his peripatetic career and independent eye to bear on the fault lines and figures of international politics . . . sketching, and occasionally skewering, his subjects."Financial Times "Useful and entertaining . . . Patten is eager to find through 'Europe' an alternative to American dominance."The Wall Street Journal "Former chair of the British Conservative Party, last British governor of Hong Kong, former European commissioner for external relations, and now chancellor of Oxford, Patten has put all of his narrative virtuosity, breadth of vision, common sense, and often hilarious verve into this magisterial volumea cocktail of autobiography, political analysis of the state of the world, and policy prescriptions, peppered with priceless anecdotes and incisive portraits. The most salient part of the book is Patten's sharp condemnation of the recent unilateralist, militaristic turn in U.S. foreign policy (he dislikes Vice President Dick Cheney and calls UN Ambassador John Bolton 'the Pavarotti of neoconservatism') and his equally sharp critique of Tony Blair's policy on Iraq ('Supporting the Bush invasion . . . is probably the worst service we have paid America'). Patten calls on Washington to return to the kind of policy it followed after World War II and for much greater U.S. involvement in resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, in global environmental and development issues, and in UN reform. He is also a lucid defender of the European Union, making strong cases for the inclusion of Turkey and for forging a union that is neither a superpower competitor of the United States nor just an appendix of Washington. In the end, Patten sees the economic rise of China and India as an opportunity for the West, but he also warns of the dangers of 'the revolt of the alienated' and 'the revolt of the dispossessed.' It is to be hoped that Patten will have more opportunities to apply his intelligence and his wit to international policy."Stanley Hoffmann, Foreign Affairs
"Chris Patten reaches behind the cliches of the Anglo-American relationship 'to tell it like it is.' This impo
Review
"Chris Patten reaches behind the clichés of the Anglo-American relationship 'to tell it like it is.' This important book is both a treasure chest of revealing stories, no-nonsense analysis, timely ideas, and a perfect reflection of its Author - irreverent, witty, wise, and always on target. Those in search of enlightenment about trans-Atlantic relations will find it here."
--Madeleine K. Albright, former Secretary of State
"Chris Patten's mixture of candor, wit, insight, and common sense is just what the transatlantic relationship needs in its current doldrums. His book glitters with the three qualities that made him such an efffective and admirable public servant and statesman: the quality of his mind, the courage of his convictions, and the brilliance he displays in expressing them. America is lucky to have such a friend and cousin, and Europe is lucky to have such an clear-headed citizen and eloquent spokesman."
--Strobe Talbott, president, Brookings Institution, and former Deputy Secretary of State
This joins the previous endorsement that was circulated earlier:
"Chris Patten, a wise European conservative, offers friendly criticism to Americans. As a personal memoir, his book is filled with wit, history, charming anecdotes, and insightful portraits of other leaders. But when it comes to policy prescription, he writes with trenchant analysis and wisdom. In both dimensions, Cousins and Strangers is a thoroughly engaging book."
--Joseph S. Nye, professor, Harvard University, and author of The Power Game: A Washington Novel and The Paradox of American Power
"Just Chris Patten's pithy discussion of the inadequate leadership provided by, respectively, Prime Minister Blair, Chancellor Schroeder, and Prime Minister Berlusconi, not to mention President Chirac and his Foreign Minister de Villepin, is well worth the price of this incisive and important book. Patten, better than most, understands why Europe needs a real Europe and why America also needs such a Europe."
--Zbigniew Brzezinski, author of The Choice: Global Domination or Global Leadership
"There is no recent book that I enjoyed more than Chris Patten's Cousins and Strangers. Chris Patten has been Governor of Hong Kong, European Commissioner of External Relations, Chancellor of Oxford, affectionate friend of America. With a wealth of diverse experiences, he has written a brilliant, witty, humane, literate, and perceptive commentary on the world's troubles, challenges, and opportunities."
--Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.
Synopsis
"A magisterial volume--a cocktail of autobiography, political analysis of the state of the world, and policy prescriptions." --Foreign AffairsFor fifty years, the Americans, British, and Europeans were close partners, yet today the Western alliance is strained to a moment of reckoning. In Cousins and Strangers, Chris Patten, one of Europe's most distinguished statesmen, scrutinizes what has happened in the years since the fall of the Berlin Wall, pinpointing the shifts in power and security that have reshaped our world.
In penetrating and sparkling analysis, Patten argues that to face the urgent threats of the twenty-first century--terrorism, nuclear proliferation, failed and failing states, massive environmental change--the Western alliance must stop bickering and kowtowing and start asserting cooperative leadership. Bad habits and easy, self-absorbed slogans must give way to smart politics in order to ensure the world's, and our own, best interests. Drawing on his decades of experience in government and international diplomacy, Patten sharply assesses the leadership of the United States, Great Britain, and Europe, and the stakes for all three if the West breaks apart.
Synopsis
A thought-provoking analysis of the relationship among the United States, Great Britain, and Europe reveals how the 1989 fall of the Berlin Wall transformed the Western alliance and explains how the threat of terrorism, Asian economic competition, and cultural divides could have profound implications for the West. Reprint.
Synopsis
"A magisterial volume--a cocktail of autobiography, political analysis of the state of the world, and policy prescriptions." --Foreign Affairs
For fifty years, the Americans, British, and Europeans were close partners, yet today the Western alliance is strained to a moment of reckoning. In Cousins and Strangers, Chris Patten, one of Europe's most distinguished statesmen, scrutinizes what has happened in the years since the fall of the Berlin Wall, pinpointing the shifts in power and security that have reshaped our world.
In penetrating and sparkling analysis, Patten argues that to face the urgent threats of the twenty-first century--terrorism, nuclear proliferation, failed and failing states, massive environmental change--the Western alliance must stop bickering and kowtowing and start asserting cooperative leadership. Bad habits and easy, self-absorbed slogans must give way to smart politics in order to ensure the world's, and our own, best interests. Drawing on his decades of experience in government and international diplomacy, Patten sharply assesses the leadership of the United States, Great Britain, and Europe, and the stakes for all three if the West breaks apart.
About the Author
Chris Patten, chancellor of Oxford and Newcastle universities, was from 1999 until 2004 European Commissioner for External Relations. He was previously the member of Parliament for Bath, chairman of the Conservative Party, and the last British governor of Hong Kong. He is the author of East and West: China, Power, and the Future of Asia. He lives in London.