Martin A. Schain - Böcker

The Convention on the Future of Europe served to galvanize debate about the nature and future developmental trajectory of the European Union. More specifically, it engendered discussion over the degree to which the process resembled that which had occurred in Philadelphia some two hundred years earlier, and, more broadly, over the extent to which the European Union does, or should, resemble the United States. Partly as a consequence of such debates, comparative federalism is now an important topic, with scholarly work comparing the US and EU proliferating rapidly. The present volume seeks to build on and contribute to this growing literature, by developing a systematic comparison of the institutions, policies and developmental patterns of the European Union and the United States.

In our globalized world, borders are back with a vengeance. New data shows a massive increase of walls and barriers between countries after 2001. However, at the same time, the flow of people and the growth of trade have continued at impressive rates, and arguments for more open borders remain relevant. In The Border, Martin Schain compares how and why border policy has become increasingly important, politicized, and divisive in both Europe and the United States. Drawing from an intensive analysis of documents and interviews, he argues that border control is a growing international movement. In Europe, the European Union is under scrutiny, and many countries seek to block the entry of asylum-seekers from wars in the Near East. In the US, Donald Trump pledged to build a wall along the Mexico border, restricted the entry of Syrian asylum-seekers, and more generally tried to ban Muslim immigration. Moreover, on both sides of the Atlantic, trade barriers appear in the political agendas of major parties. Schain delves into these interlinked phenomena, showing that migration, identity, and trade have been packaged and transformed into hotly contested issues of border governance and control.

In our globalized world, borders are back with a vengeance. New data shows a massive increase of walls and barriers between countries after 2001. However, at the same time, the flow of people and the growth of trade have continued at impressive rates, and arguments for more open borders remain relevant. In The Border, Martin Schain compares how and why border policy has become increasingly important, politicized, and divisive in both Europe and the United States. Drawing from an intensive analysis of documents and interviews, he argues that border control is a growing international movement. In Europe, the European Union is under scrutiny, and many countries seek to block the entry of asylum-seekers from wars in the Near East. In the US, Donald Trump pledged to build a wall along the Mexico border, restricted the entry of Syrian asylum-seekers, and more generally tried to ban Muslim immigration. Moreover, on both sides of the Atlantic, trade barriers appear in the political agendas of major parties. Schain delves into these interlinked phenomena, showing that migration, identity, and trade have been packaged and transformed into hotly contested issues of border governance and control.

The text focuses first on the impact of the Marshall plan on the organization of political and economic life in post-war Europe and how the plan was perceived in European public opinion. Finally, the book analyzes the debate about the economic impact of the Marshall Plan in the post-war economic "miracle" in Western Europe.

This book is devoted to an analysis of how immigration has emerged as a political issue, how the politics of immigration have been constructed, and what have been the consequences in western Europe. Specific coverage is given to France, the UK, Italy, Austria and Germany, along with the emerging EU policy process and some cross-national comparisons.