Organizing European Space

This book combines perspectives from political science, history and geography to provide a comprehensive introduction to `Europe′ or European space as we understand it today. Central to the book is the phenomenon of the sovereign state and the question of alternative ways of organizing Europe politically and economically. The book explores four different ways of organizing space: state, union, region and network. By tracing the origins of the sovereign state in Europe, the book first reviews the resilience and adaptability of the sovereign state historically, and then looks at the implications of the contradictory processes of integration and fragmentation, or globalization and regionalization, present today. A key concept developed throughout the book is that of networks, especially with respect to the European Union, and the relationship between regions, networks and cities, a relationship long traditional to Europe′s political organization. The authors review critically popular notions of a ′Europe of regions′ or ′the end of the sovereign state′ and instead serve to combine their different disciplinary conceptual tools and perspectives to provide new insights into the future organization of European space. Organizing European Space will be essential reading for all students of contemporary Europe seeking a deeper understanding of the modern state and the complexity of changing notions of identity, political organization and territoriality inherent in Europe in the past, present and future.

This book combines perspectives from political science, history and geography to provide a comprehensive introduction to 'Europe' or European space as we understand it today. Central to the book is the phenomenon of the sovereign state and the question of alternative ways of organizing Europe politically and economically. The book explores four different ways of organizing space: state, union, region and network. By tracing the origins of the sovereign state in Europe, the book first reviews the resilience and adaptability of the sovereign state historically, and then looks at the implications of the contradictory processes of integration and fragmentation, or globalization and regionalization, present today. A key concept developed throughout the book is that of networks, especially with respect to the European Union, and the relationship between regions, networks and cities, a relationship long traditional to Europe's political organization.The authors review critically popular notions of a 'Europe of regions' or 'the end of the sovereign state' and instead serve to combine their different disciplinary conceptual tools and perspectives to provide new insights into the future organization of European space. Organizing European Space will be essential reading for all students of contemporary Europe seeking a deeper understanding of the modern state and the complexity of changing notions of identity, political organization and territoriality inherent in Europe in the past, present and future.

This book combines perspectives from political science, history and geography to provide a comprehensive introduction to the notion of European space. It introduces students to the traditional structures and institutions of local government and shows how these have been transformed in response to increased economic and political competition, new ideas, institutional reform and the Europeanization of public policy. At the book's core is the perceived transition from local government to local governance. The book traces this key development thematically across a wide range of West European states including: Belgium, France, Greece, Italy, Germany, The Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom.

Making European Space explores how future visions of Europe's physical space are being decisively shaped by transnational politics and power struggles, which are being played out in new multi-level arenas of governance across the European Union. At stake are big ideas about mobility and friction, about relations between core and peripheral regions, and about the future Europe's cities and countryside. The book builds a critical narrative of the emergence of a new discourse of Europe as 'monotopia', revealing a very real project to shape European space in line with visions of high speed, frictionless mobility, the transgression of borders, and the creation of city networks. The narrative explores in depth how the particular ideas of mobility and space which underpin this discourse are being constructed in policy making, and reflects on the legitimacy of these policy processes. In particular, it shows how spatial ideas are becoming embedded in the everyday practices of the social and political organisation of space, in ways that make a frictionless Europe seem natural, and part of a common European territorial identity.

In the modern world, technical issues define space policy. Missing from discussions of space policy, however, is a consideration of the political consequences of new space endeavors, particularly in the context of the European Union. This book, therefore, approaches space policy instead from the discipline of European studies and analyzes the European integration process through the lenses of political science, history, economics, and international relations. The strengths of each discipline are used to apply theoretical approaches to current issues in European space policy. Theorizing European Space Policy is the latest contribution to the growing debate on space policy and its role in the European integration process.

With the end of the Cold War, the main question regarding the space race is whether it will become a co-operative venture. This text describing the the European Space Agency shows how such a co-operative enterprise has worked over the past 30 years and how

In this thoughtful & meticulously researched book, Professor Blum makes a major contribution to the exposure of an important aspect of UN practice. He adds to his academic analysis the insight provided by his years as his country's Ambassador at the UN, & provides the reader with a fascinating & well-written argument. The book reflects events & developments that took place prior to the summer of 1990, during the period marked by global confrontation between the two major power blocs of those days. That confrontation found one of its strongest expressions in the United Nations, & was largely responsible for the deterioration of the legal-constitutional climate within the UN. With the end of that confrontation, as a result of the collapse of the former Soviet bloc & the disintegration of the Soviet Union itself, a new climate of parliamentary cooperation within the United Nations has come about. Consequently, there would now appear to exist a real prospect - perhaps for the first time since the establishment of the Organization - for a reconsideration of at least some of the practices that developed over the years within the cold war context, & which constitute a departure from the legal-constitutional requirements laid down by the Charter. It is in this spirit this book is offered to the reader's attention.