The European Union and American power

In last year's issue of this Register Leo Panitch and Sam Gindin argued that deep economic integration of the most advanced economies had led to an unprecedented concentration of geopolitical power under US hegemony. The present contribution examines the possibility of a European counterweight to this power. Current discussions suggest two ways in which the European Union might represent a challenge to the concentration of power on the US: on the one hand, some member countries could be seen as exemplifying more efficient, more stable or more socially developed economic systems; on the other, the relations among member countries could constitute a superior model of international economic and political organization to that which is today promoted under US leadership.