Shortlisted for the 2016 European Book Prize, in Slippery Slope: Europe’s Troubled Future journalist and analyst Giles Merritt reflects on the threats, challenges and unexpected opportunities that Europeans are likely to face as they move deeper into the twenty-first century. Simeon Mitropolitski strongly recommends this book to those pondering the future horizons of a presently troubled Europe

Mitropolitski, Simeon

LSE Research Online

12/7/2016Book Review: Slippery Slope: Europe’s Troubled Future by GilesMerrittblogs.lse.ac.uk/lsereviewofbooks/2016/12/07/book-review-slippery-slope-europes-troubled-future-by-giles-merritt/Shortlisted for the 2016 European Book Prize, in Slippery Slope: Europe’s Troubled Future  journalist andanalyst Giles Merritt reﬂects on the threats, challenges and unexpected opportunities that Europeans are likely toface as they move deeper into the twenty-ﬁrst century. Simeon Mitropolitski strongly recommends this book tothose pondering the future horizons of a presently troubled Europe. If you are interested in this book, you may also like to listen to  a podcast recording  of Giles Merritt’s LSE Lecture,recorded 26 May 2016. Slippery Slope: Europe’s Troubled Future . Giles Merritt. Oxford University Press. 2016.Find this book: Giles Merritt, an international journalist and think-tank analyst, oﬀers a new book onEurope’s present and future. Named by his former employer Financial Times in2010 as one of 30 ‘Eurostars’ who are most inﬂuencing thinking on Europe’s future,he focuses on the common myths, threats, challenges and unexpectedopportunities that Europeans are meeting as they move deeper into the twenty-ﬁrstcentury. Merritt’s previous books dealt with global unemployment issues and thediﬃculties facing post-communist Eastern Europe. The purpose of Slippery Slope isto show that no single European country is capable of defending its interests on itsown in today’s world (xiv). Only through strengthening the process of Europeanintegration can the challenges of the incoming world be met – whether economic,demographic, political or technological.Methodologically, Slippery Slope reﬂects the interviews that the author hasconducted since the early 1970s with European politicians as well as availablestatistics and literature on the topic. The book targets the general public –unsurprising given Merritt’s journalistic background. Readers do not have to be particularly familiar with either theEuropean or larger international issues that the author presents. The language he uses is also simple without beingsimplistic or underestimating the intelligence of the reader, who will have the impression of sitting with the author in acafe and holding a friendly discussion on European and global topics.Slippery Slope includes twelve chapters that deal with diﬀerent aspects of European development, followed by ashort bibliography and an index. I recommend reading the ﬁrst two before moving onto the other thematic chapters.These set up the common myths of Europe and also give a glimpse into the next 35 years if the current heavy trendskeep rolling. Chapters Three through Eleven discuss European development within the context of diﬀerentinternational topics, such as the rise of Asia, digital and demographic changes and some geopolitical issues. Thereaders can read these chapters in any order or just pick up where they are most interested without losing the redthread of the entire volume. The ﬁnal chapter includes the author’s practical suggestions for European leaders andcitizens.1/3Image Credit: (Michael Coghlan CC BY SA 2.0)Instead of reviewing the book chapter-by-chapter, I will focus on Slippery Slope as a practical guide for decision-makers. From this angle, the review will look like a series of propositions, each with its own genealogy in terms of aproblematic. The author calls these the myths that hasten Europe’s decline (Chapter One). Each leads to dangerouslong-term trends (Chapter Two), but may also open new windows of opportunities (Chapters Three through toEleven). Finally, for each, there are practical suggestions for decision-makers (Chapter Twelve).One of these common myths is that Europe is overcrowded. This can produce demographic policy that inhibitspopulation growth and leads to relative or even absolute population decline. But it may also open the window ofopportunity to attract the best and brightest minds from developing countries. Therefore, the author suggests that theEU take an unambiguous stance on immigration to staunch the shrinkage of its workforce (245). Another commonmyth is that Europe is technologically advanced. This myth is particularly dangerous because it makes governmentsand population feel superior to other regions and without the need to make radical changes. As a result, Europe islosing comparative advantage not only to the United States, but also to some newly industrialised nations such asChina and South Korea. To eliminate this threat, the author suggests accelerating the process of inter-Europeancorporate concentrations and mergers (244).The third common myth in Europe is that the continent is strong within today’s world, self-sustaining in terms ofsecurity and with a strong voice in global aﬀairs. The reality is far from this picture, and the sheer number of menand women in uniform does not hide the fact that the strongest European nations do not cooperate too often onsecurity issues. Merritt suggests giving Brussels the opportunity to speak with one voice on foreign and securityissues, a matter that national governments have for centuries conducted on their own (241). The fourth myth is thatEurope is rich: particularly dangerous because it reﬂects the present situation but not necessarily the near or farfuture, especially in terms of its relative share of the world’s economy. The trend is clear: Europe is losing its relativeeconomic might, and with it the European population will slowly impoverish. To face this challenge, the authorsuggests approving EU-based strategy for modernisation and the expansion of basic infrastructures, especiallytransport (238).The ﬁfth European myth deals with the perception of EU as a superstate that threatens national sovereignty. Withbarely one per cent of the EU GDP redistributed by the EU and with small, often dysfunctional and poorly organised2/3institutions, the EU lacks the resources and the brainpower to be a superstate (14). This myth threatens Europeanintegration and makes Europe less competitive and powerful in the international arena. To solve this problem, theauthor suggests not abandoning political union, saving the Euro and giving the European Central Bank additionalpowers to promote growth and jobs as well as price stability (248). Other European myths deal, among others, withEuropean’s resilience, with jobs haemorrhaging to Asia and with immigration. Each of these potentially contributestoward Europe’s decline and needs to be addressed by decision-makers before it is too late.The feeling of sitting with the author may have unexpected and certainly unintended consequences. Despite hiswillingness to thematically separate the issues, they usually overlap across the entire book. The beneﬁts ofimmigration, for example, in terms of arguments and illustrations, unnecessarily appear within diﬀerent contexts atdiﬀerent points.While reading Slippery Slope I also had the impression that the author was too much concerned, despite his explicitdenial, with the outcome of the Brexit referendum in June 2016. If trying to inﬂuence British public opinion not toleave the EU was the real motivation behind defending the merits of the EU’s ever-closer integration, then certainlythe immediate goal was not achieved. Regardless of the presence or absence of Britain within the EU in the nearfuture, however, the book’s arguments may serve as a good starting point for further discussions on Europeandevelopment. The author is dealing with long-term trends, ones that may puzzle the European decision-makers andpublic opinion for many years and even decades to come. For this reason I strongly recommend the book not only totoday’s readers with an interest in European issues, but also to the readers of tomorrow.Simeon Mitropolitski, PhD, teaches courses in political science and methodology at the University of Ottawa. He isauthor of over thirty peer-reviewed articles and book reviews. His research interests include post-communist politicaldevelopment, EU integration, political culture, methodology and the state of contemporary political science. Readmore reviews by Simeon Mitropolitski.Note: This review gives the views of the author, and not the position of the LSE Review of Books blog, or of theLondon School of Economics. Copyright 2013 LSE Review of Books3/3

Book review: slippery slope: Europe’s troubled future by Giles Merritt

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