Further reading and watching

Dear students,

First of all, Inès and I would like to thank you for your wonderful response in this literary adding to your class. Having read a great number of your book reports we can see we could have had very vibrant sessions. But Covid rules and no regrets. The important thing now is to tame this most disturbing pandemia and go back to normal as soon as possible. But having learn some lessons. Essentially that the response is essentially in ourselves. 

As summer comes by and attending the request of some of you, please find here below some recommendations for further reading and watching. A way to keep alive free thinking and developing our capacity of understanding the world we live in. Literature and good movies and series will considerably help those of us who are willing to keep on learning every day. We may not get all the answers but we will start at least asking ourselves the appropriate questions and this a great start.!!!

So no more talking and lets go....

a) Some great books

As we have seen European Union construction, these novels help considerably to understand its evolution:

TOPIC: Europe after World War I: the impossible alliance

The Great Swindle by Pierre Lemaître (McLehose Press, 2016). A gripping novel mixing thriller and history. France after WWI.

TOPIC: Cold war: the need for Western Europe to be allied:

A legacy of spies by John Le Carré (Penguin Classics, 2010). A more contemporary second part of The spy who came in from the cold. Reviewing Cold War in a very interesting way by a writer who is the master on spies.

TOPIC: Europe after the fall of Berlin Wall:

The dogs of Riga by Henning Mankell (Vintage, 2012). This novel by the best writer of Nordic Noir shows the contradictions and difficulties faced by countries from the Eastern Block in the transition period before joining the EU.

TOPIC: First signs of Brexit:

We have read this year Middle England by Jonathan Coe which explained the causes of Brexit from various perspectives. As complementary reading please do not miss Capital by John Lanchester,(Faber and Faber, 2013)  an outstanding achievement that gives us many more clues in a moment in which Brexit was already on process. 

The title refers to London, where the main action takes place and on the same time to the evolution of Capitalism. A great critique of Neoliberal policies started at the age of Thatcher and continued by Labour leader Tony Blair. If the UK is one of the countries in which Covid Pandemia is stricking more heavily it is in great part due to the collapse of the NHS (National Health service), simply because successive governments decided that maintaining it was too expensive. 

TOPIC: The aftermath of the fall of Berlin Wall:

The Nobel Prize Svetlana Alexiévitch is the author of journalism masterpieces. We would like to point out two: Secondhand time: The last of the Soviets and Chernobyl Prayer: Voices from Chernobyl: A Chronicle of the Future.

The first is an account of Soviet Union’s end through different testimonies. The second an impressive and terrifying report on Chernobyl and its consequences. Both books are essential.

TOPIC: Are we getting back to the 1930’s?:

The 1930 decade was a time when most of Western regimes tried to solve the aftermaths of the 1929 crisis by developing a totalitarian political regime and rejecting traditional parliamentarian democracy. Some historians have put an alarm by stating that we are coming back to the 30’s situation, because since 2008 crisis economic and social differences are growing wider. Populism from right and left are the political response everywhere. This following list of books will help you to understand what happened in the 1930’s and will help you to compare with our present situation.

Stalinism:

- Koba the Dread: Laughter and the Twenty Million by Martin Amis. It is not exactly a novel but a kind of autobiographical account by Martin Amis and a brilliant study of how British and European communist intellectuals did not want to face the terrible truth about Stalin. 

- The man who loved dogs by Leonardo Padura is the story of Trotski’s long exile. Stalin’s hatred for him heralded the deep crisis left parties will know, probably still unresolved. An addictive reading that you should not miss since Leonardo Padura is a Cuban writer, living in La Habana. His books are tolerated now but Fidel Castro forbid them for many years. La neblina del ayer, Pasado Perfecto, Herejes o La transparencia del tiempo will show you current Cuba better than any newspaper article with Mario Conde’s unbeatable company, the private detective created by Padura.

Mussolini:

- M by Maurizio Scurati. Only translated in Spanish, it is a very interesting and dazzling portrait of how Mussolini came to power in Italy in 1922. Italian social, economic and moral context is superbly portrayed by Scurati.

Franco and the Spanish Civil War:

- La noche de los tiempos by Antonio Muñoz Molina. The best novel on Spanish Civil War ever written with the adequate distance and objectivity. Outstanding!!! There is English Translation: In the Night of Time (Serpent’s Tail, 2016).

Populisms today:

- Illska by Icelandic writher Eiríkur Örn Norðdahl. No translation in English but in French and Spanish. Same title for both editions, published by Hoja de Lata in Spanish and by Pocket Book in French.

b) Some great movies or TV series:

Culture is not only literature, it is also cinema and art (paintings, photography, theatre,…). As going to museums, exhibitions and theatre is a bit complicated and will remain so for a while, we have selected some films and TV series for you to watch complementing the above mentioned readings. They are all available on dvd (Amazon still works, though a little slower) and on streaming. The audiovisual offer is overwhelming this days but as you may have realized there is a lot of crap. The following list takes care of movies and series of an outstanding level. We strongly recommend them. Do not miss them.  

TOPIC: On the aftermath of the fall of Berlin Wall:

 two great movies and an outstanding TV serie: 

- “The life of others” (2007) directed by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck.

- “Goodbye Lenin” (2003) directed by Wolfgang Becker.

Both films are located in Eastern Germany, the first is a drama focused on the difficult conditions of freedom of expression and intellectual work under a strict Communist regime whereas the second is a joyous and gleaming comedy on a boy’s deception to his mother, a fervent Communist, who after a coma awakes in a unified Germany.

- “Chernobyl” (2019), based on the book by Svetlana Alexiévitch is simply magnificent. Brilliantly performed, it superbly narrates the chain of errors, incompetence and burocratic paralysis that converged in the explosion of the nuclear reactor. Its brutal radiations are still present. Gorbachov said that Chernobyl explosion was the beginning of the end of Soviet Union.

TOPIC: Populisms and the manipulation of public opinion by the government: 

One of the problems of Populisms is that they have not other program than giving to the people an easy answer for their fears and anxieties. They say what people want to hear. This is why they do really well in moments of crisis. For understanding this manipulation and how in every period fortunately there are honest people willing to defend truth and freedom we recommend two great movies. 

- “Sophie Scholl” (2005) directed by Marc Rothemund. A movie about the last days of this German anti-nazi activist that was executed by the Nazi regime at the age of 21 for distributing anti-nazi propaganda. She belonged to the White rose movement. Lets remember that not all Germans supported Hitler. Going against the main current of public opinion is dangerous and in this case lethal. Would you take the risk of going against Populist tide? After watching the Movie ask yourselves if you would have the courage to do so. Are honesty, freedom and liberty really important to you? 

- Finally, do not miss "The Officer and the Spy" (2020) directed by Roman Polanski, based on the wonderful book by Robert Harris An officer and a spy. The Dreyfuss affair narrated in a vibrant movie that appeals to our contemporary sensitivity. The defeat of France in the 1870 War against Bismarck Prussia left a feeling of bitterness and humiliation. This is why the establishment after discovering that some French officer was passing sensitive military secrets to the Prussian authorities in Paris tried to put the blame on a Jewish officer: Alfred Dreyfuss. He was the perfect scapegoat in a time when massive public opinion defended very strong anti-Semitism. 

What is great is that it was an officer of the establishment Georges Picquart, who did not like Jewish people but was decent and honest, who discovered that the accusation was false. But the establishment did not want to let the truth go public because Dreyfuss was the perfect offender for keeping public order. What it is interesting is that the protagonist of Harris book and of Polanski movie is not Dreyfuss but the brave officer that put his conscience before his career. A great example. An unforgettable movie. 

Important dates of TG´s 9, 10, 11 and 12

One of your Class mates brought to my attention the fact that I did not select the crucial dates for the last 4 Teaching Guides. I apologize. Here you go:


Teaching Guide 9:

American federalism

1787 (NWO and Federal Constitution), 1791 (Bill of Rights), 1803 (Marbury v. Madison)

XIXth Century

1815-1830 (Metternich System)

Interbellum Period


1920 (League of Nations), 1929 (Briand's Plan)

Second World War

1944: Benelux

Postwar Period

1947 (Marshall Plan), 1948 (Berlin Blockade and Hague's Conference),1949 (Council of Europe)


Teaching Guide 10:


Life of Jean Monnet(1988-1979)
Life of Robert Schuman (1886-1963)
Foundation of the DBR (May 1949)
Foundation of the DDR (October 1949)
Schuman Declaration (9 May 1950)

Teaching Guide 11:


1951 Paris Treaty ECSC
1952 EDC
1957  Rome Treaties (EEC, EAEC)
1960 EFTA
1965 Merger Treaty
1966 Luxemburg Compromise
1973 First Enlargement (UK, Ireland, and DK) 9 Member States
1975 ERDF
1979 First Election EP
1981 Second Enlargement (Greece) 10 Member States
1985 Schengen Agreement
1986 Third Enlargement (Spain and Portugal) 12 Member States
1987 Single European Act
     
Teaching Guide 12:


1989: November 9 Fall of the Berlin Wall
1990: September: 2 x 4 Agreement / October: German Reunification
1991 : December: Dissolution of the USSR.
1992-1993: Treaty of Maastricht.
1995: Fourth Enlargement : (Austria, Finland and Sweden) 15 Member States
1998: Creation of European Central Bank
1999: Bologna Declaration
2000: Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union
2002: Euros enter into force
2004: Fifht Enlargement 10 new members: 25 Member States.
2007: Sixth Enlargement: Bulgaria and Romania. 27 member States
2009: Treaty of Lisbon enters into force
2013: Seventh Enlargement: Croatia. 28 Member States.
2016: Brexit Referendum
2020: January: The UK leaves the EU. 27 Member States. 

A precarious union: Communitarian Europe in the 21st Century

After General De Gaulle resigned, after losing the Referendum on Decentralisation on April 28, 1969, things started to move again in Communitarian Europe. First because for the first time the number of States integrated in the 3 European Communities (ECSC, EEC and EAEC) increased from 6 to 12 after the three enlargements of 1973 (UK, Ireland and Danemark), 1981 (Greece) and 1985 (Spain and Portugal) the number of member-states. In 1975  Creation of the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) a very important step in creating a network of regions to weaken the States. In 1979 The European Parliament became a democratic institution, as for the first time it was elected by the citizens of the European member States. In 1985 the borders of the Member States disappeared after the signature of the Schengen Treaty. And in 1986 was signed the Single European Act (SEA) a substantial update of the Treaty of Rome and namely of the EEC, intended to push Member States towards a genuine single internal market in goods and labor (to be implemented by 1992), and to adopt a system of `qualified majority voting´ in the Union’s decision-making process.

For understanding this crucial period I recommend you to read carefully pages 292 and 302 to 309, especially the brilliant analysis of Tony Judt and his wonderful “History of Europe after 1945”. In 1986 there was an optimistic approach to the European integration and this explains that a single market was favored in principle by everyone, from Margaret Thatcher to the Greens, though for rather different reasons. 

                                          

          

The consolidation of this new stage in the process of European integration would come 6 years later as a consequence of the end of the Cold War.  The fall of the Berlin Wall in November 9, 1989, the 1990 German reunification and the disappearance of the Soviet Union in 1991 had a decisive influence in the process of European Integration. 

The signing of the Maastricht Treaty

 The tendency of the SEA was deepened in the Maastricht Treaty (signed on February 7, 1992, and ratified by all Member States by November 1st 1993) that substituted the three European Communities by a unique European Union, creating a Pillar Structure that enabled the different implementation of the QMV versus the Unanimity principle, the Community Method versus the Intergovernmental Method (pages 293-294). All this was possible because the Commission was headed from 1985 to 1995 by his most able President so far: Jacques Delors.  

 Something that was more important as the collapse of the Iron Curtain enabled the integration of the Eastern European countries in an exorbitant enlargement that in 25 years led to the Europe of 12 state-members to the Europe of 28. The Europe of 15 in 1995 -with the integration of Austria, Finland and Sweden-, the Europe of 25 in 2004 -with the integration of Poland, the Czech Republic, Cyprus, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, the Slovak Republic and Slovenia-, the Europe of 27 in 2007 -with the integration of Romania and Bulgaria-, and the actual Europe of 28 in 2013, with the integration of Croatia. This successive enlargements required urgently a deep reform of the governing principles of the EU in the Amsterdam (1997), Nice (2003) and Lisbon (2009) Treaties.(Pages 295-296) 

And that was it?

Not really. The Communitarian method of integration has proved much less effective than the Federal approach taken by the US Presidential System. This why, today the EU is still a miracle largely due to the persistence of a dual way of decision making through the intergovernmental and community principles. This explains that the EU has two executives: one for the member States, the European Council, and another for Integrated Europe, the European Commission, and two legislatures: the Council of ministers (referred to as the Council) representing the Member States and the European Parliament, by far the key institution of Integrated Europe.

We do not have a strong Executive as the President of the United States. The consequence is that it is very hard and slow to take decisions and to implement the common policy. A big market is not very charismatic. It has no glamour. And it has no ambition of getting further in integration. The cattle market you have seen in Robert Menasse’s The Capital. Europe is about PIGS. The consequence is that when crisis arrive they are far more difficult to solve. The different self-interests of the Member States tend to prevail. And decisions are reached “in extremis” after whole night long negotiations. Compromise and Governance are the rule. Not real efficient Government. 

After the 2008 crisis, the difficulties of some countries –specially Southern European States- accentuated by the strict budgetary discipline required by the "euro" monetary policy gave wings to many Populist anti-integration parties. On the extremes: the Far Right and the Far Left. Parties that defende as a priority leaving the EU. And when you have weak and corrupt short term politicians, like the ones you have discovered in Jonathan Coe’s Middle England, then you get the Brexit Mess. As a result of the referendum held on the 23 of June of 2016 and the victory of the “yes” (51.9%) in favour of the UK leaving the European Union. It took 4 years to get the UK out. And it is quite impossible to foresee if negotiations about bilateral relationships between the British Government and Brussels will take place or we are going towards a no-deal situation.

A good clue about what is going to be the future of the EU is how the 27 Member States are going to face the catharsis provoked by Covid 19. The huge economic hole that confinement is creating would be impossible to fill individually by the States. But how is going to be the financial support of the EU? we do not know. And what about the UK? Are they going to be able to get through this tremendous crisis by themselves? The Scottish Government has already asked for a delay in implementing the Brexit, besides the fact they want a new referendum for independance as the majority of Scotish voted for Bremain. British may have started realizing that even if the EU is not a satisfactory tool, being out of its economic umbrella might be worse. 

 Another key question is the strong return of the nation-State model with rising nationalisms consequence of the growing of Populisms. Nationalists movements like for instance in Scotland, Catalonia or Belgium would make the EU explode? Would populisms incite other member states to leave the Union? Would the absence of the non European UK help the remaining countries to move further into a tighter union? Would the UK remain together after Scotland and Northern Ireland voted in favour of Bremain? Is the Brexit reversible? Too many questions with unpredictable answers. 

 Is the Lisbon Treaty a legal instrument capable of maintaining the EU member States together? Please read carefully pages 296 to 298 and 309 to 311.

The Lisbon Treaty

So, wait and see. The European integration process is still on its way. The European Union Political History has just began. Everything will depend of what kind of integration are we looking for or are we able to support. Will nationalism prevail over Europeanism? (pages 299-301).

In Menasse’s The Capital we have seen that the EU has no soul. And this is why French President Ben Abbes in Submission proposes a different type of European integration to face the US, Russia and China. A religious Europe submitted to Islam financed by the Petro-monarchies. An Utopia or a Dystopia? Or our only way? If the EU does not find a powerful narrative it might disappear. The market rules are not sufficient. Especially after the new Era that has suddenly irrupted in our lives with the Covid 19 Crisis.