The European Union

The European Union faces many challenges today. The global millennium has brought a polycrisis, from the Global Financial Crisis and the great refugee waves to worsening trade wars, Climate Change and the Covid 19 Global Pandemic of 2020-21. Where does the European Union stand in this maelstrom of change? Is all still well even after seven decades without a major European war and an expansion to 28, except now 27, nations? In The European Union - New Challenges and New Leadership, editors Stephen Alomes, Robert Mezyk and Sang Chul Park and their contributors explore the external pressures and internal tensions of the EU today: Euroscepticism, including the dramatic manifestation, Brexit; the cultural and moral divides expressed in Polish and Hungarian dissidence; Australian comparisons and connections, including trade, refugee policy and political ideology; security and citizen engagement; regional development challenges and ongoing Balkan uncertainties; the EU as the world's largest trading bloc as China and the USA embrace trade duels rather than deals. The authors suggest future possibilities for the European Union even in our 'interesting times', positive results rather than a decline of the West after Toynbee or Spengler.