The disintegration train
has left Brussels
IWONA REICHARDT
After Europe. By: Ivan Krastev. Publisher:
University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, 2017.Let me start this review
with a disclaimer: the pos-
itive assessment of Ivan
Krastev’s recent book is in
no way related to the fact that
the author is also a member
of New Eastern Europe’s edi-
torial board. It solely reflects
the value of the publication
and its relevance as it has
been interpreted by the un-
dersigned reviewer. That said, readers
who are familiar with Krastev’s writings
will not be surprised that his recent book,
tellingly titled After Europe, focuses on
disintegration rather than integration.
They may even remember that on the
pages of this magazine Krastev had writ-
ten: “I know how things collapse; this is
what I have been studying all my life. I was
working on the Balkans and I know how
they collapsed, and before that I studied
how the Soviet Union had collapsed”.
With these credentials,
Krastev is now analysing
the possible dismantling of
the common European pro-
ject. It should, nonetheless,
be seen as alarming that on
the first pages of this anal-
ysis Krastev writes: “I am
someone who believes that
the disintegration train has
already left the Brussels sta-
tion – and who fears it will doom the
continent to disarray and global irrele-
vance”. Keeping this statement in mind we
should also remember that the author is
not – as he straightforwardly admits – a
Eurosceptic, nor only a theorist of disin-
tegration. Conversely, he is a represent-
ative of a generation of Eastern Europe-
ans who have personally experienced the
collapse of the Soviet Union and who put
great hope into their countries’ integra-
tion with common European structures.