"At last, a book about the EU, Europe and enlargement that is actually readable! Tassinari has taken a complex and difficult subject of real importance for the future of Europe and produced a lively, necessary and interesting account of where we are, how we got here and where we are going. A copy needs to be sent to every EU foreign minister. Now. Before it is too late."
-Tim Judah Balkans Correspondent of The Economist and author of The Serbs: History, Myth and Destruction of Yugoslavia

"In the last decade many scholars were busy answering the question, why Europe's neighbors are so attracted by the European Union. But in his provocative and well-researched book Fabrizio Tassinari asks the question "why Europe fears its neighbors" and the answers he provides are illuminating and disturbing for anybody who really cares about the success of the European project."
-Ivan Krastev Chairman of the Board, Centre for Liberal Strategies, Bulgaria

More Praise for "Why Europe Fears its Neighbors"

"Through his career, Fabrizio Tassinari has demonstrated the rare combination of fine scholarship, original thinking and sharp observation. This also shows in Why Europe Fears its Neighbors, a compelling book. I like its central argument—that Europe's paranoia for its neighbors is self-inflicted. Anyone wishing to make some sense of Europe's longstanding predicament should read this book." 
- Uffe Ellemann-Jensen, former Minister for Foreign Affairs of Denmark (1982-1993) and Adjunct Professor at the Copenhagen Business School 

"Fabrizio Tassinari makes a very attractive proposal and this book sets the tone well, since it is time to dramatize the need for a much more effective EU policy towards its neighborhood. Much of the existing literature is solid and well researched, but lacks urgency in the argument. On the other hand some of the more sensationalist contributions to the literature are not so sound analytically. Tassinari is fully in command of the subject matter and has a talent for writing with flair."
-Michael Emerson, Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS), Brussels and former EU Ambassador to Russia  

"Europe is widely thought of as the soft or civilian superpower, striving to be loved rather than feared. But as Tassinari points out in this insightful book, Europe has fears of its own which it must confront in order to achieve the ambitions it has set for itself. Up-to-date and rich in sensible argument, Tassinari presents the most pragmatic roadmap for Europe's geopolitical future." 
-Parag Khanna author of The Second World: Empires and Influence in the New Global Order 


"Fabrizio Tassinari is a brilliant, inventive scholar and an engaging author with a crisp style. This book is a timely, compelling, and at times provocative treatment of what is perhaps Europe's central challenge: how to deal with a kaleidoscope of neighbors on a freer yet more turbulent continent. Tassinari skillfully illuminates Europe's choices, challenges and its fears, and also charts a way forward. He has produced a rich and substantial book that is full of insights and sure to generate considerable debate and discussion. I recommend it heartily: it fills a gap in current thinking and is certain to be a must-read for students, scholars and opinion leaders alike."
-Prof. Daniel Hamilton, SAIS, Johns Hopkins University, Washington, DC

20 May 2011: Turkish-language edition Avrupa Komşularından Neden Korkuyor? out by Inkilap  

7 May 2011: Book discussion at Iceland University and interview with Iceland's National Public Radio
22 February 2011: "Taming Libya's Mad Dog" European Council on Foreign Relations (with Daniel Korski).
2 February 2011: "Calling Europe's Bluff in North Africa" in openDemocracy
8 January 2011: "Tassinari argu[es] that Europe must pursue deeper engagement with its neighbors" book review in Survival 52/6.
December 2010: "deep and unconventional insight" from a book review in The International Spectator, 45/4.
9 November 2010: Book discussion at McGill/Montreal University Center of Excellence  
October 2010: Book review by Yannis Tsatoulis in Southeast European and Black Sea Studies.
20 September 2010: Book of the month, plus review (in Italian), on www.affarinternazionali.it  
6 August 2010: Why Europe reaches #6 on the bestseller list of books on "European Union countries" at Amazon.com 
3 August 2010: Inkilap Publishers, Turkey's oldest commercial publisher, acquires the rights for the Turkish translation of Why Europe Fears its Neighbors.   
July 2010: "Recommended. General readers, upper-division undergraduate students, and above."– Choice
June 2010: book review by Tuula Yrjölä, Ulkopolitiikka (in Finnish).
21 May 2010: book discussion at Cambridge University, United Kingdom

20 April 2010: Book interviews in English and Italian for the Osservatorio Balcani-Caucaso and Transitions online portals.    

29 March 2010: British scholar and Ambassador Alyson JK Bailes' reviews the book in the Cambridge Review of International Affairs 23:1, March 2010: "[Tassinari's] writing style is robust, colourful and well spiced with cultural and historical references. If the result ends up somewhere between academic prose and quality journalism, the factual underpinning and referencing leave nothing wanting."

23 March 2010: book discussion at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs.

6 February 2010: op-ed "Hvordan Europa mistede Ukraine" [How Europe lost Ukraine], Weekend Avisen.

3 February 2010: "Europe's Role in losing Ukraine" in openDemocracy.

28 January 2010: Why Europe reaches #7 in the English-language bestseller list of international relations books on Amazon.fr.

11-14 December 2009: 3 book lectures by invitation to Seoul University, Yonsei University and the Samsung Economic Research Institute, all in Seoul.
6 October 2009: Book interview, Baltic Development  Forum Summit, Stockholm.

2 October 2009: "It is not as if the EU handles its Neighborhood very Adroitly", Article in Europe's World,Autumn 2009  

18 September 2009: "The Neighborhood is the Test Case" interview in Global Europe

25 November 2009: Book interview on Deadline the Danish state broadcaster. 

19 November 2009: "A Lesson For Nord Stream from the Arctic" oped (with Pertti Joenniemi) in European Voice.

5 November 2009: "Defusing the Enlargement Hype" oped in E!Sharp Magazine. 

1 November 2009: "Tassinari, a foreign policy analyst, addresses the political, societal, and economic predicament in Europe's backyard — the Balkans, Turkey, the westernmost former Soviet republics, Russia, and the Mediterranean area — to examine how security concerns define Europe's policies and its identity. Arguing against conventional wisdom, he contends that gradual integration with its many neighbors is Europe's best alternative to fragmentation. His thesis is supported with primary sources and examples of the prevailing European discourse on each of the neighboring countries and regions." (Reference and Research Book News, November, 2009)

29 October 2009: "Why Europe" audio podcast by Stanford University available here.

22 October 2009: Discussion, Forum on Contemporary Europe, Stanford University. 

21 October 2009: Book Launch, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Washington, DC.

19 October 2009: Washington book launch featured in, among others, The Washington Times and the Associated Press.