Europe has been experiencing chaotic times for several years, particularly since the rise to power of an American president whose behavior is unpredictable and indecipherable within the traditional framework of global relations. What has become of Europe’s geopolitical influence in recent years? Russia’s outbreak of war against Ukraine has shaken the entire geopolitical landscape. How can Europe respond to the strategic shift of its historical ally, the United States? The author examines Europe’s geographical origins, its specific culture, and its economy. With a global GDP of 15%, the EU attracts international investment: the euro guarantees monetary stability, and the institution’s functioning is designed to be reassuring in order to ensure its security. However, its model, which promotes “unity in diversity,” does not currently allow it to play a leading role on the world stage. Long before the arrival of the American president in the red cap, some of his predecessors had taken very radical positions regarding Europe. One can cite President Washington, who advised Americans in 1796 not to get involved in European affairs. As for Monroe, he expressed a very strong idea: “America for the Americans.” These slogans and powerful ideas resonate with us constantly these days. It’s as if we are in the process of dismantling the UN to create a world divided into spheres of influence. To address this situation, President Macron mentioned, in 2017, a path toward “European strategic autonomy.” But where do we really stand? How can Europe be militarily independent when a large number of its member states are buying American F-35 fighter jets? The answer may lie in building a more integrated and powerful European military industry in the coming decades. In conclusion, the author outlines various hypotheses: his scenarios range from pessimism to a degree of optimism. We will also consider a possible scenario of a European resurgence. Analysts have often observed that Europe manages to overcome its divisions in the face of severe crises. Will it succeed in forging a consensus position to make its voice heard on the world stage and influence the course of history? Guillaume Lagane is a senior civil servant and lecturer at Sciences Po Paris. He is a specialist in defense issues. Renzo BORSATO.

The book bears witness to the many talents of the author, who observes the conscious and unconscious dimensions of public administration. In the first part, the author presents himself as a historian and linguist. He traces the genealogy of the concept of “administration”, initiated by Bonnin in the eighteenth century and inspired by the spirit of Montesquieu’s laws and the practical spirit of Turgot, then enriched by the positivism of Auguste Comte. He recalls with Mirabeau that “administration is both a science and an art”. He redefines the “secular ethics” of the administration, oriented towards the “good of the service”, the author of the rights and duties of the citizen and the initiator of a “disembodied social bond”. He analyses administrative language, marked by a certain “verbal fetishism” and charged with “symbolic violence”. In a second part, the author engages in a psychoanalysis of the public administration, which he considers to be affected by the “Kafkaesque symptom”. He likens the rule to an “administrative superego” and the repetition compulsion of the official to a Freudian “id”. The employee is driven by a passion for regulation and impulses of control. The administrative body therefore has a disciplinary character, which causes the citizen, lost in the “bureaucratic labyrinth”, to feel “social anxiety” and “disturbing strangeness”. He shows that any administrative deregulation – including space-time – causes affects in administrators and the administered. He shows that the “lost file” is a missed act. Through a striking analysis, he transposes the clinical case of “the man with the rat”, analyzed by Freud, to the “administrative body”. In a third part, he becomes a literary critic, recalling the portraits – most often in charge – of administrative customs, which were drawn up by Courteline, Feydeau, Mirbeau, Melville, Gogol, but also Balzac, Flaubert and Camus. The French complain that France is “under-governed and over-administered”. They are calling for a simplification of procedures and a reduction of standards. They will understand by reading this book that it is simple to complicate and difficult to simplify, especially since the civil servant and the citizen are increasingly enslaved to their impulses and to Artificial Intelligence. Paul-Laurent Assoun (ENS Saint Cloud) is a psychoanalyst and university professor. He has written numerous books and articles in the various fields of social sciences. Jean-Jacques Pluchart

Clément Carbonnier traces the history of French labour policy since the post-war period. He argues that there is no economic relationship between the cost of labour and productive employment. He shows the diversity and complexity of the mechanisms implemented to transfer the financing of social protection, limit its cost and ensure wage moderation. He analyses the side effects of these policies, such as the development of private protection, the introduction of social minima and the taxation of wage supplements. These measures have all been inefficient since the French employment rate – especially among young people and senior citizens – is one of the lowest in Europe. These policies have, however, been justified by the prevailing belief that public jobs are unproductive and that only private employment is efficient. The current imbalances are due to an uncontrolled decline in compulsory levies, taxes on companies and income from assets and reductions in contributions on salary supplements and contributions. The revision of these measures would generate a wave of discontent because it would only have long-term effects, which has dissuaded elected officials from reforming. The author is convinced that in the absence of political courage, the French state will be forced to comply with the rules imposed by international institutions and markets. The author therefore tries to show the inextricable nature of the social problem and the inevitability of international economic sanctions in the absence of reform. He reveals the extent of the impasses facing French society and the difficulty of emerging from them through neo-liberal or post-Keynesian policies. Measures to restore fiscal balance, social equality and business competitiveness, are a “squaring of the circle” because they involve structural reforms and a radical revision of the current social regulation mechanisms. The main interest of the book lies in its analysis of the scope and limitations of successive social policies and the reasoning held by neo-liberal and post-Keynesian policymakers to avoid a widening of deficits and an increase in social debt. Clément Carbonnier is a Professor of economics at the University of Paris I and the author of numerous books. Jean-Jacques Pluchart

In this latest opus, the authors, who are not at their first book together, look at some long-term proposals to reinvent a social model for France and Europe at the end of the history in the face of the ambitions of the United States and China. This first quarter of the 21st century has been marked by a spectacular drop in the European economy and even more so in the French economy. Since 2002, the US GDP has grown twice as fast as the European GDP. And this slide continues regardless of the elements of analysis used, productivity, R&D, investment, employment rate, trade balance, training, etc. France has even fallen behind on its own continent compared to its neighbors. The irresistible French de-industrialization has not been offset by the development of a significant technological sector, the debt and the trade deficit are abyssal, the quality of public services is deteriorating despite an ever-increasing budget deficit, and finally, the wealth per capita is 15% lower than that of Germany. Europe is at odds with Schumpeter and is paying a high price for its risk aversion. 54% of American R&D is devoted to new technologies compared to 15% in Europe, which prefers to continue investing in its old industry. Nine of the top ten European capitalizations are in traditional sectors, while nine out of ten of the American ones are related to technology and AI. The major asset of the American model lies in an ecosystem favorable to innovation and investment, which contrasts with the European model, hampered by a restrictive fiscal, legislative and regulatory frameworks. It could be summarized in a slogan: the taste for risk versus the “precautionary principle”. But this very “business friendly” American model hides weaknesses. Inequalities and impoverishment continue to grow, the exorbitant cost of care is a factor of indebtedness, and the financial situation of the Federal State, despite or because of the dollar, is catastrophic. While Donald Trump has promised the Americans to return to the golden age of the McKinley period, will a weakened and demoralized Europe be able to react? To do so, it will have to get out of the trap of weak growth, regain its dynamism, and defend its positions in the global struggle. The authors make concrete proposals at both the national and European levels. The urgent needs of French reforms are known, as well as the solutions. Choices will be imposed on us if we want to perpetuate our social model. But above all, we must find consent and active involvement in a context where exasperation, deadly dialectics, and mistrust of our leaders prevent all necessary reforms implementation and fuel the ineffectiveness of democratic models. Patrick Artus is an economic advisor to Ossiam and a member of the Cercle des économistes. Marie-Paule Virard is an economic journalist Ph Alezard

“In life, there is nothing to fear, but everything to understand” (Marie Curie) The issue of climate concern, an emotional and anxiety-provoking matter, is nothing new! For these reasons, it requires greater clarity and the expression of arguments that are not based exclusively on linear extrapolations. Indeed, the IPCC report of March 2023, which predicts a global cataclysm, is considered by the author to be binary, political and overly alarmist. Its ambitions confront us with an extremely urgent problem in terms of decarbonisation. France claims to be carbon-virtuous, emitting 1% of global CO2. However, we can see that the actions of nations are not synchronised. Based on this observation, physicist Daniel HUSSON enters this confrontation determined to separate fact from fiction. In 13 well-argued and insightful chapters, he presents the importance of returning to reason in order to moderate the fears that have been generated, by looking at things from a different perspective to understand the cyclical changes that explain the structure of movements and causes. He points out that the planet’s climate system is an oceanic mechanism, which explains both the stability of the atmosphere over a long period and the erratic oscillations in the oceans, i.e. climate variability. Because:  It is the ocean that dictates its law to the air. That’s how it is! It is established that climates have changed naturally and continuously since the beginning of time. Nature sets the laws, and humans are part of them. As long as the sun shines, the Earth’s axis remains tilted and the precession of the equinoxes continues, the Pole will remain a cold spot and the Equator a hot spot. This plea is like a blade ready to burst the bubbles that thrive here and there to make humans feel guilty at the expense of other justifications. Not giving in to sustained panic, playing things down, resorting to a plurality of viewpoints, putting things into perspective and setting the record straight: that is the stated aim of this informative book. . Daniel HUSSON is a physicist, teacher, researcher and trainer in physics since 1992. He teaches thermodynamics and Einstein’s theory of relativity at the University of Strasbourg. Author and co-author of more than seventy international scientific publications, he has also published Les Quarks, histoire d’une découverte  (Quarks: The Story of a Discovery) – (Ellipses). Book review by Freddi Godet des Marais – Club Turgot 2025

The author approaches the European subject by probing the opinions of his high school and college students. The students surveyed were from Seine-Saint-Denis, the 5th arrondissement of Paris, and Tolbiac University. Are young people passionate about the European project? Do they feel more European than French? Do they know the European institutions? Bagnolet high school students are mostly from immigrant backgrounds and live in difficult family circumstances (some parents are unemployed). They note that Europe may be a market offering opportunities. Given its presence in the media world, the European Central Bank (ECB) is perceived as a monetary regulation institution. However, the other European institutions are less well known: the Parliament, the Commission, the Council. The Schengen area is highlighted for the convenience of traveling in Europe. It should be noted that all they have known is the euro,. Preparatory classes students (Paris 5th and 16th arrondissement) are of different sociological origins (more affluent social background), they adhere to the idea of a Europe that facilitates trade between its members. The approach of Tolbiac Univeristy students is a little different: they know better the various workings of the institution. Like their prep colleagues, they recognize the importance of the role played by the European Central Bank (ECB). They also note the importance of collective action during the financial crises and the COVID-19 pandemic. In conclusion, no group of students mentioned the idea of a “Frexit”. It should first be noted that students see the practical side of Europe because of the existence of the Erasmus program: it is a way to open up to other horizons and other cultures and makes them aware of their belonging to Europe. It was created in 1987. These young people were born after the creation of Europe and the euro: it would not occur to them to question it. One particular point brings negative remarks: the social aspect. Indeed, because of the commercial competition between members, employees earning minimum wage may find themselves unemployed. Some industries are relocated to lower wages countries . This book brings us closer to the concerns of these young people: we must listen to them and enlighten them on the path of Europe They will be the ones driving future European progress. Frédéric FARAH is a professor of economic and social sciences, a professor in preparatory classes and at the University of Paris 1 Panthéon Sorbonne. Renzo Borsato

The book brings together representatives of three generations and three disciplines (economics, philosophy and journalism), who freely discuss the main “global social facts” (in the sense of Max Weber) that occurred during the first quarter of the 21st century and the perspectives opened up on the second quarter.  The debate focuses on five main themes: demographic change, technological and economic change, political recomposition, health protection and the climate challenge. The phenomena that have most marked the global consciousness since the beginning of the century are the rise of terrorism – marked by the attack on the World Trade Center – the financial crisis of 2008 and the development of AI since 2022.  These events have led to a questioning of the neoliberal principles defined by the Washington Consensus. The launch of the chatGPT software has revealed the creative destructive power of social networks and AI, and in particular, the ability of digital applications to influence, the monopolistic position of their developers and the speculative nature of their stock market shares. These events have contributed to the rise of populism and authoritarian regimes. In Europe, they have led to a reappraisal of the most permissive and expensive social models. The authors recognize that projecting the 2050 horizon is difficult. They envisage a “Europe that is undoubtedly greyer”, but more united between generations and within each generation.  The authors call for a more rational assessment of the impacts of AI on the organisation of work and social life, a “more participatory and local” democracy, a “reconciliation of health and care”, and a climate transition that better integrates short- and long-term requirements.   Through the sagacity of their exchanges, the authors invite readers to reflect on the control of their destinies. Bruno COLMANT is an economist, teacher and former director of financial institutions and member of the Royal Academy of Belgium. Laurent HUBLET is a philosopher and entrepreneur.  Marie VANCUTSEM is an audiovisual journalist. Jean-Jacques Pluchart

Ferghane Azihari is the son of Comorian emigrants whose parents “did not only flee material poverty. They also escaped pollution that kills six to fifty times more in sub-Saharan Africa than in Western Europe”.  From the introduction, the tone is set for this fascinating critique of the current ecology in our countries.  He dismantles one by one the declinist, Malthusian and anti-capitalist arguments of these movements which, warm and sheltered, dream of becoming good savages again.  He demonstrates that far from ravaging the planet, the technical progress opposed by Greta Thunberg, Nicolas Hulot and others has made it possible to greatly improve the human condition, including in the poorest countries. In a dream world, hunter-gatherers have in reality destroyed more through their overexploitation of resources than agriculture has made it possible to reduce. Technical progress and the industrial revolution have gradually made it possible to reduce pollution in developed countries as well as reducing working hours.  The real solution is therefore to believe in technical progress, associated with individual property which allows the protection of wealth as opposed to collective property, where no one has an interest, as shown by the state of the ZAD of Notre-Dame des Landes.  Regressive ecology is a luxury of rich countries; are we going to force emerging countries to remain at their current economic level, or even regress?  The author also shows that the most radical ecologists are for the most part anti-capitalists who have been reconverted after losing their clientele to technical and social progress, and that this explains their hatred of property and progress. A work that goes against the grain and is ultimately beneficial at a time when prophets of doom are almost the only ones with the right to speak. Ferghane Azihari is a public policy analyst, general delegate of the Free Academy of Human Sciences and member of the Society of Political Economy. Christian Chouffier

Right from the start of the book, the introduction is striking, because based on successive failures on the climate front, the economist fears, at worst, a possible collapse of civilization and, at best, the possible replacement of our liberal democracy by an illiberal and therefore less democratic system because of climate inaction. Through his book, he therefore proposes the solution of introducing a carbon price (CO₂ tax) that could help save the common good in terms of nature in relation to climate change. To do this, in the first part of the book, he shows that the problem of energy transition is a problem of allocating decarbonization efforts among a multitude of economic agents. He highlights a large number of quantified calculations between, on the one hand, the CO² emissions emitted by traditional economic activity, and on the other hand, the actions to be carried out today and tomorrow by economic actors in order to move towards the net zero emissions (NZE) objective by 2050 (limiting global warming to 1.5°C). Then, before tackling carbon taxation, he demonstrates the current contradictions of homo economicus, who wants to do something for the planet, but who in fact does not want to spend more for the same product/service; in other words, the social unacceptability of alternative climate policies. On this subject, he therefore addresses the fact of the stowaway, because the economic actor who acts on decarbonization bears the full cost, and does not benefit in any way from the climatic benefit of this action (the costs are private, and the benefits are socialized). In fact, he goes on to propose and explain his theory of introducing a single carbon tax (of the order of €250/T according to his calculations) equal to the carbon value. The principle being that everyone will make the effort to decarbonize if and only if its cost per ton of CO² avoided is lower than the carbon value. This assumes the establishment of a well-calibrated subsidy system, with this uniform carbon tax generating a social optimum. But in an open world, while the new presidency of the United States is making every effort to deploy its economy with traditional energies, the effort required must take place at the global level and not the national level, hence the problem of the stowaway. In addition, the author highlights an innovative idea proposing that the European Union set up an independent Carbon Central Bank (CCB) to manage the evolution of the price of carbon on an emission permit market covering the entire Union. Subsequently, the goal would be to raise the price of carbon to a level where oil and gas would no longer be competitive with renewable energies. Finally, while there is no simple solution to the energy transition, and many intellectuals today fail to see the challenges posed by the debate surrounding climate policies that are undermining our liberal democracy, economist Grollier simply wanted to show that carbon pricing was the least bad solution. This book helps us understand all the current economic issues we are facing without always realizing their full significance, as well as the major events that are shaping our century, such as electric cars, heat pump heating, soft mobility in cities, green steelmaking, e-fuels for aviation and maritime transport, etc. All that remains is to convince the global population… Christian Gollier is an economist, co-founder and director of the Toulouse School of Economics and his work focuses on the climate economy (recent works: “Entre fin de mois et fin du monde” and “Le climat après la fin du mois”) and on the science of decision-making in uncertainty. Claude GEORGELET