Books

A Citizen’s Guide to the Rule of Law – Why We Need to Fight for the Most Precious Human Inventions of All Time, co-authored with Adis Merdzanovic, TBD

In our daily lives, the rule of law matters more than anything and yet remains an invisible presence. We trust in the rule of law to protect us from governmental overreach, mafia godfathers, or the will of the majority. We take the rule of law for granted, often failing to recognize its demise—until it is too late. For under attack it is, not only in the growing number of authoritarian countries around the world but in Europe, too.

As a citizen’s guide, this book explains in plain language what the rule of law is, why it matters, and why we have to defend it. The starting point is to ask why EU efforts to promote the rule of law in candidate countries have succeeded or failed, and what this tells us about what is happening inside the EU. The authors move on to suggest ways of strengthening the rule of law in Europe and beyond. This book is a call to action in defense of the most precious human invention of all time.

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Exodus, Reckoning, Sacrifice: Three Meanings of Brexit, published by Unbound, 2019

Exodus, Reckoning, Sacrifice offers a  unique take both on Brexit and on  the power of mythical stories to frame our democratic conversation. Kalypso Nicolaidis conjures up three archetypes to explore the competing visions that  have clashed so dramatically over the meaning of Brexit, whether as the ultimate demonstration of British exceptionalism, a harbinger of terrible truths or sacrifice on the altar of EU unity. She takes the reader on a journey through the imaginative worlds of the ancients to probe the mix of instinct, feeling and pride that inspires people’s yearning to be free, to bond with others or to reinvent politics. While she castigates the European project for its failure to accommodate the longings of the continent in all their glorious variety, she contends with the ironic possibility that after and  perhaps because of Brexit, the EU will live up to the pluralist ideals that define both the best of Britain and the best of Europe. Ultimately, the book offers a plea for acknowledging each other’s stories, with their many variants, ambiguities and contradictions. And it encourages all of us to ask  whether it is possible, in this spirit of recognition, to pursue a respectful, do-no-harm Brexit – the smarter, kinder and gentler Brexit possible in our hard-edged epoch of  resentment and frustration.

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The Greco-German Affair in the Euro Crisis: Mutual Recognition Lost?, co-authored with Claudia Sternberg and Kira Gartzou-Katsouyanni, Palgrave, 2018

This book focuses on one of the most highly charged relationships of the Euro crisis, that between Greece and Germany, from 2009 to 2015. It explores the many ways in which Greeks and Germans represented and often insulted one another in the media, how their self-understanding shifted in the process, and how this in turn affected their respective appraisal of the EU and that which divides us or keeps us together as Europeans. These stories illustrate the book’s broader argument about mutual recognition, an idea and norm at the very heart of the European project. The book is constructed around a normative pivot. On one hand, the authors suggest that the tumultuous affair between the two peoples can be read as “mutual recognition lost” through a thousand cuts. On the other, they argue that the relationship has only bent rather than broken down, opening the potential for a renewed promise of mutual recognition and an ethos of “fair play” that may even re-source the EU as a whole. The book’s engaging story and original argument may appeal not only to experts of European politics and democracy, but also to interested or emotionally invested citizens, of whatever nationality.

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UCL European Institute Talking Europe series podcast “The Greco-German Affair in the Euro Crisis”: https://soundcloud.com/european-institute/the-greco-german-affair-in-the-euro-crisis

Podcast from the book launch at LSE: https://richmedia.lse.ac.uk/hellenicobservatory/20180321_TheGrecoGermanAffairInTheEuroCrisis.mp3

Echoes of Empire: The Present of Europe’s Colonial Pasts, edited with Berny Sebe, I.B. Taurus, 2015

Echoes of empire

How does our colonial past echo through today’s global politics? How have former empire-builders sought vindication or atonement, and formerly colonized states reversal or retribution? This groundbreaking book presents a panoramic view of attitudes to empires past and present, seen not only through the hard politics of international power structures but also through the nuances of memory, historiography and national and minority cultural identities.

 

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European Stories: Intellectual Debates on Europe in National Contexts, edited with Justine Lacroix, OUP, 2010

European Stories

European Stories takes a new look at debates about European Integration by examining the role of “public intellectuals”–political philosophers, scholars, editorialists or writers–who contribute to framing the attitude of European publics to Europe and the EU. While there is an enormous literature on the role of intellectuals considered generally or in their distinct national contexts, there is precious little on their take on European integration in the post-war period.

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Book Review: “European stories. Intellectual debates on Europe in national contexts“, Jens Bastian, Southeast European and Black Sea Studies, 11:3, 346-348, 2011



Mediterranean Frontiers: Borders, Memory and Conflict in a Transnational Era, edited with Dimitar Bechev, I.B. Tauris, 2009

MediterreneanFrontiers

The identity of any nation-state is inextricably linked with its borders and frontiers. Borders connect nations and sustain notions of social cohesion. Yet they are also the sites of division, fragmentation and political conflict. This ambitious study encompasses North Africa, the Middle East, and South and South East Europe to examine the emergence of state borders and polarised identities in the Mediterranean.

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Under the Long Shadow of Europe – Greeks and Turks in the era of Postnationalism, edited with Kerem Öktem and Othon Anastasakis, The Hague: Brill, 2009

LongShadow

Can the European Union transform Greek-Turkish relations? The contributors to In the Long Shadow of Europe examine the ambiguities of Europe’s historical role in its Southeastern corner to shed light on the possible paths lying ahead. From various angles, they highlight the paradoxes of a relationship between intimate adversaries, marred by tormented histories, nationalist narratives and bilateral disputes but strengthened by historical familiarity, geographic vicinity, and the imperative for cooperation.

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Whose Europe? National Models and the Constitution of the European Union, edited with Stephen Weatherill, European Studies at Oxford Series, Oxford University Press, 2003

Whose Europe

This small volume collects papers presented at a conference entitled “Whose Europe?: National Models and the Constitution of the European Union”, held in Oxford on 25-27 April 2003. The event brought together scholars involved in the field of European Studies at Oxford University, scholars from outside Oxford and participants in the Convention on the Future of Europe.

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The Federal Vision: Legitimacy and Levels of Governance in the US and the EU, edited with Robert Howse, Oxford University Press, 2001

FedVision

Based on a transatlantic dialogue between scholars, this work addresses the complex and changing relationship between levels of governance within the United States and the European Union. It examines modes of governance on both sides, analyzing the ramifications of the legitimacy crisis in our multi-layered democracies and moving beyond the current policy debates over “devolution” and “subsidiarity.”

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The Greek Paradox: Promise vs Performance, edited with Graham Allison, Cambridge: MIT Press, 1996

Greek Paradox

As a bridge between the East and West, a pole of stability in the Balkans, and a Mediterranean crossroads, Greece could play a significant role in the post-Cold War world. But Greece’s performance in domestic and international policy falls short of this promise. The essays in The Greek Paradox look at some of the reasons for this gap and suggest possible political and economic reforms.

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Strategic Trends in Services – An Inquiry into the Global Services Economy, edited with Albert Bressand, New York: Harper and Row, 1989

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Special Issues

“Normative Power Europe Revisited”, edited with Richard Whitman, Special Issue of Conflict and Cooperation, Vol 48, No 2, 2013.