Berlin Rules: Europe and the German Way

摘要

Margaret Thatcher famously worried that German unification would result in the country dominating Europe. In this book, former UK Ambassador to Germany Paul Lever, while rejecting her negative feelings about Germans, comes to a roughly similar conclusion but one which might have reassured her. Lever agrees that the EU is and will be dominated by a reluctant hegemon. However, this hegemon will not push for the EU to become a federal superstate or a major strategic international power. Lever characterises German leadership as reluctant and based more on economic interests than broad strategic concerns.