Recasts how we understand international relations through an examination of the human evolutionary predisposition to be “ultrasocial” as a species.
Illuminates why the Russia-Europe relationship has deteriorated to the lowest level since the end of the Cold War.
Explains the resilience of the European Union in the face of repeated crises perceived to threaten its very existence.
The European Diplomatic Corps argues that diplomats comprise a transnational network of experts or ‘epistemic community’ which has been critical in determining co-operation or non-co-operation among European states.
At a time when many observers question the EU’s ability to achieve integration of any significance, and indeed Europeans themselves appear disillusioned, this award-winning book argues that the EU has made remarkable advances in security integration, in both its external and internal dimensions.
Do the various aspects of Europe’s multi-leveled public diplomacy form a coherent overall image, or do they work against each other to some extent? European Public Diplomacy pushes the literature on public diplomacy forward through a multifaceted exploration of the European case.
Praise for International Cooperation Against All Odds: The Ultrasocial World
The Ultrasocial World presents a groundbreaking perspective on international relations, offering a corrective to dominant rationalist IR theories that are ingrained with a baked in design flaw: the erroneous assumption of an individualistic and competitive ‘market’ model of social and organizational behavior. Instead, Cross provides a framework for understanding world politics that aligns with the emerging consensus in other social and biological sciences: that to be human means group identification and cooperation. It further argues that the human evolutionary algorithm to be “ultrasocial” shapes agenda setting, selecting optimistic over pessimistic political ideas to succeed, transform, manipulate, and inspire on a global scale. In the face of global issues such as climate change and the emergence of AI, Cross’ book offers a rewiring of assumptions and a roadmap for the possibility of politics to coordinate and solve even the most dangerous and difficult policy dilemmas.
Kaija Schilde, Boston University
The Ultrasocial World offers the reader a refreshing and ground-breaking take on global politics, which powerfully and successfully counters the established assumptions about international co-operation. Cross effectively broadens the boundaries of academic discussion with her novel conceptualization of human behaviour, which gets to the very roots of international relations, offering wide-ranging and persuasive cases. It is also a much-needed ray of optimism in today’s troubled world!
Karolina Pomorska, Leiden University
Very rarely is there a book that challenges what we take for granted when studying and organizing world politics. This is one of these books. Cross’ book is nothing less than a paradigm shift. It will undoubtedly become a classic.
Marianne Riddervold, Innlandet University Norway and University of California Berkeley
Praise for The Politics of Crisis in Europe
“In her excellent, convincing, and counter-intuitive book, Mai’a K. Davis Cross argues that not only has the EU survived repeated existential crises, “it ultimately seems to thrive” on them…The Politics of Crisis in Europe is a provocative, compelling, and important contribution to the fields of European Union Politics, European Political Economy, and to broader literatures on conceptualising crisis…European publics and elites routinely emerge out of supposed existential crises choosing more Europe, not less. This is a timely argument, and one that deserves serious attention.”
Neil Dooley, The University of Sussex
“Mai’a K. Davis Cross asks why the EU has not gone into reverse during a time of economic stagnation, policy failures and a ringing lack of popular endorsement. How can it be that European integration has continued to deepen against the odds? She proposes the deliciously counter-intuitive argument that crises have provided a chance to ‘air underlying societal tensions that would otherwise remain under the surface, impeding further integration’ (p. 220). In doing so, this engaging book is no less innovative than Alan S. Milward’s seminal work The European rescue of the nation-state (Routledge, 1992; reviewed in International Affairs 69: 2).”
Asle Toje, The Norwegian Nobel Institute
“The Politics of Crisis in Europe by Mai’a Davis Cross is definitely one of the best books – and there are many! – to have appeared on the EU in recent years. The author focuses on three crises – Iraq in 2003, the Constitution in 2005 and the Eurozone crisis in 2010/2011. She analyses in depth the causes, impacts and responses to the crises from a multi-disciplinary perspective including economics, politics, geopolitics, sociology and psychology. Strong on policy processes, emphasis is equally given to emotional reactions. The “guts” of the EU are fully explored. The book combines rigorous academic analysis with a sense of humanity. In fact, she demonstrates that contrary to the Eurosceptic view, the EU – at the end of perhaps a chaotic day – is capable of a good deal of resilience. As a citizen of the EU (French), I found the thrust quite encouraging. I highly recommend.”
Jean-Pierre Lehmann, Professor Emeritus, IPE, IMD, Lausanne, Switzerland
Praise for Security Integration in Europe
“The European Foreign and Security policy is in rapid transformation. Mai’a K. Davis Cross’s book on security integration in Europe offers a timely and thorough insight into the drivers of an essential aspect of this evolution.”
Poul S. Christoffersen, Danish ambassador to Belgium and former permanent representative to the EU
“This is an ambitious work which deals not only with European security and defense but also has much to say about the policy-making process of the EU in general.”
Ezra Suleiman, Princeton University
“This book is a veritable tour de force which sets EU security integration in a complex, multifaceted, and highly sophisticated frame. It is a book with much to offer both to the IR community and to the European Studies community.”
Jolyon Howorth, Yale University
“This book, which draws on impressive first-hand research, is highly recommended to scholars, policy makers and all those interested in understanding how security integration has been unfolding in Europe.”
Yasemin Irepoglu, EUSA Review
“The author generates a fresh and well-timed outlook on security integration through the approach of ‘knowledge-based networks’ as transformers of the Union.”
Ramon Loik, JCMS: Journal of Common Market Studies
“The author is to be commended for focusing on an often-overlooked aspect of EU policymaking: how groups of individuals who have specialized knowledge can impact the European integration process. … [Security Integration in Europe] is valuable as a rare glimpse into the EU’s byzantine bureaucracy and technocratic operating culture.”
Andrew T. Wolff, Dickinson College
Mai'a Keapuolani Davis Cross 