Trouble in Paradise?

When political observers talk European security, they invariably refer to the challenges Western Europe faces on its peripheries, rarely imagining that the greatest dangers to the new Europe may come from within. Without necessarily suggesting a worst case ending, this study argues that there is indeed a series of crises converging on post Cold War Europe that threaten its stability and need to be addressed by European policy makers and taken into account by Americans. Areas of discussion include the welfare state in transition, crisis of the political system, the decline of the nation-state, and prospects for the future.