Washington and Lee University
Politically and economically, the contrast between the Europe of yesterday and that of today is nothing short of remarkable. The difference is primarily a matter of leadership. In the 20th century, generations of European leaders led their nations in dramatically different directions. Through the two World Wars, they guided their peoples, with varying zeal, into the most destructive wars in the history of mankind. Toward the close of the century, a new generation established the European Union, which, among other alliances and benefits, made war among its democratic members unthinkable. As North Atlantic partners, the member states of a new Europe settled their differences and found new ways to cooperate, reconciling a militarily and ideologically divided Europe that, in different hands, could have led to Armageddon.
Today, we are witnessing the emergence of yet another generation of European politicians, leaders too young to have learned their politics during the Cold War. Having forged new alliances, 
they view Europe’s future and its ties with the United States with a new pragmatism, one relatively free of old world prejudices. In this Alumni College, we will examine the reasons why.
Lead by Mark Rush, Wayne Thompson, and other members of W&L’s political science department, we’ll focus on a select group of important European statesmen to see how and why they are leading their countries on new paths. These include Britain’s Labour prime ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown; France’s president Nicolas Sarkozy; Germany’s first female and youngest chancellor, Angela Merkel; Spain’s president, the youngest person ever to enter parliament, José Luis Zapatero; Poland’s newly-elected prime minister, Donald Tusk; the moderately Islamic president Gul and prime minister Erdogan of Turkey; and Russia’s Vladimir Putin and his hand-picked heir apparent, 41-yearold Dimitri Medvedev. We’ll also consider how their stewardship may continue to change Europe, the European Union, NATO, and the relationship with the outside world, especially the United States.
