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What is the future of the European Union? The New Totalitarian Temptation: Global Governance and the Crisis of Democracy in Europe, a new book by former American diplomat Todd Huizinga, dissects the core of the European Union. On April 8, Hudson will host a book discussion on challenges facing the EU, which Huizinga describes as a “soft utopia."

Is supranational governance compatible with democratic self-government? What does it mean to say the European Union has a “democracy deficit?�� Will the British leave the EU in June and, if so, what does this mean for the European project and the transatlantic alliance? Will Germany, the indispensable motor of European integration, pull back from the dream of a European political union? Will the cultural, political, and security challenge of radical Islam both within Europe and abroad strengthen or weaken the EU? What does the refugee-migrant crisis ultimately mean for European political integration and the concept of “an ever closer union?��

A panel of experts, representing both Euroskeptic and pro-EU positions, analyzed and debated these questions. The panel included Todd Huizinga of the Acton Institute, Jeremy Rabkin of George Mason University law school, Nile Gardiner of the Heritage Foundation, and Dalibor Rohac of the American Enterprise Institute. The panel was moderated by Hudson Senior Fellow John Fonte.