Counter-Revolution Liberal Europe in Retreat

Now, more than ever in our life-time, we wonder what is going on in Europe? Terrorism, Brexit, Crimea, and Donbas, a failed coup d'etat in Turkey, economic austerity; is there an end to this series of deeply troubling events? Is there a link between them? Where is Europe heading? How do we reverse the trajectory of history and give citizens a sense of security and hope for a better future?The book argues that we are witnessing a movement thatis trying to get rid of the liberal Europe established by the 1989 revolutions. We are facing a counter-revolution. It is not just the EU under attack but also other symbols of the current order:liberal democracy and neo-liberal economics, migration and a multicultural society, historical 'truths' and political correctness, moderate political parties and main-stream media, cultural tolerance, and religious neutrality. Counter-Revolution is written in the form of a letter to the late European guru Ralf Dahrendorf. Several months after the fall of the Berlin Wall, Dahrendorf wrote a book fashioned on Edmund Burke's Reflections on the Revolution inFrance. Like Burke, he chose to put his analysis in the form of a letter, reflecting on the implications of the turbulent period around 1989. Jan Zielonka similarly offers reflections on the implications of what is anequally turbulent and important period currently facing Europe, and proposes a way forward.