Of Paradise and Power

Mr. Kagan talked about his book Of Paradise and Power: America and Europe in the New World Order, published by Alfred A. Knopf. The book is an expansion on an article in Policy Review about America and the world that has been discussed internationally. The book argues that after years of mutual resentment and tension, there is a sudden recognition that the real interests of America and its allies are diverging sharply and that the trans-Atlantic relationship itself has changed, possibly irreversibly. Europe sees the United States as high-handed, unilateralist, and unnecessarily belligerent; the United States sees Europe as spent, unserious, and weak. The anger and mistrust on both sides are hardening into incomprehension. Mr. Kagan traced the widely differing histories of Europe and America since the end of World War II, showing how for one the need to escape a bloody past has led to a new set of transnational beliefs about power and threat, while the other has perforce evolved in close