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The European Sisyphus: Essays On Europe, 1964-1994
Bringing together all of Stanley Hoffmann’s significant essays on the development and difficulties of European integration, this collection highlights the intractability of the divisions that plagued the European Union from its very beginning. Just as the process of integration has displayed the same ambiguities, hesitations, and failings over the years, so have Hoffmann’s general preoccupations and emphases remained constant.These essays provide a view of evolution and change as well as an examination of the crises and turning points in the history of European integration. Hoffmann chronicles the ebb and flow of the process from the time of Charles de Gaulle’s challenge to Jean Monnet’s conception of supranational integration through the 1970s “period of stagnation” and on to the 1992 single-market program and the Maastricht Treaty.Scholars will welcome the opportunity to have Hoffmann’s analyses—most long unavailable—within one volume. Students will find Hoffmann’s consistent and cohesive vision an invaluable guide to understanding the evolution of European union.
326 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1995
About the author
Stanley Hoffmann
70 books18 followersHoffmann was born in Vienna in 1928, and moved to France with his family the following year. A French citizen since 1947, Hoffmann spent his childhood between Paris and Nice before studying at Sciences Po. He followed an academic career in the United States and founded Harvard's Center for European Studies in 1968.
Hoffmann also participated as a political expert in the film The World According to Bush, dealing with the vicissitudes of the Bush administration after the 2000 presidential election.
Hoffmann also participated as a political expert in the film The World According to Bush, dealing with the vicissitudes of the Bush administration after the 2000 presidential election.
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November 18, 2025
Why is the EU often disappointing? A major figure of the intergovernamentalist school, a writer who bridged France and the United States, Stanley Hoffmann argued that we may have set our hopes too high. The European Sisyphus is useful to understand the strengths and the flaws of this project, especially today, when populism and nationalism are on the rise, even gaining a foothold in the Commission.
The main message of the anthology is about modest success and repetition. The European Union is always close to being something better, and then something happens and discord blocks the progress. The themes are diverse: Charles de Gaulle, international cooperation, defense, and relations with the United States. The author's skepticism is more moderate than the title, and he argues that there is more good than bad in this process.
For Stanley Hoffmann, the European Communities and Union were about an advanced form of international and transnational cooperation, not a federation in the making. The main reason was that states and nationalism were more resilient than many integrationists thought. This doesn't mean that realists were right: Europe isn't back to the stage of classical power politics. It's a group of democracies, that are interested in the welfare and in a broader notion of security, and less in territorial expansion and xenophobia.
The United States is ambiguous towards its European allies and partners, noted Stanley Hoffmann. Washington pressed for more expenditures and pushed for NATO and the common defense since the 1950s. But the US also expected alignment towards its objectives and actions, the author argued in his essay collection, The European Sisyphus. This is true today, as we have seen in the Daddy summit.
Stanley Hoffmann avoided theories and modern methodology. He was also in between the many perspectives of the Western communities. I'm ok with that, since his essays are nuanced and written with style. Since topics are a bit repetitive, it is always good to read The European Sisyphus.
The main message of the anthology is about modest success and repetition. The European Union is always close to being something better, and then something happens and discord blocks the progress. The themes are diverse: Charles de Gaulle, international cooperation, defense, and relations with the United States. The author's skepticism is more moderate than the title, and he argues that there is more good than bad in this process.
For Stanley Hoffmann, the European Communities and Union were about an advanced form of international and transnational cooperation, not a federation in the making. The main reason was that states and nationalism were more resilient than many integrationists thought. This doesn't mean that realists were right: Europe isn't back to the stage of classical power politics. It's a group of democracies, that are interested in the welfare and in a broader notion of security, and less in territorial expansion and xenophobia.
The United States is ambiguous towards its European allies and partners, noted Stanley Hoffmann. Washington pressed for more expenditures and pushed for NATO and the common defense since the 1950s. But the US also expected alignment towards its objectives and actions, the author argued in his essay collection, The European Sisyphus. This is true today, as we have seen in the Daddy summit.
Stanley Hoffmann avoided theories and modern methodology. He was also in between the many perspectives of the Western communities. I'm ok with that, since his essays are nuanced and written with style. Since topics are a bit repetitive, it is always good to read The European Sisyphus.
Displaying 1 of 1 review