I think this may be underappreciating Monnet's method. Yes, it is often described as doing small steps where large steps are politically impossible, but there's more to it. For each of those steps, a recurring pattern seems to be applied: At the beginning, there's no political will to do the step. Never mind, network will all the stakeholders, so that you have access once needed. Wait for a crisis that makes the step necessary, or at least palatable. Propose the solution. If it does not work, wait and try again during the next crisis. Rinse and repeat with each small step.
This does not seem to match what Monnet did. Where he achieved integration, it was not because of long-term plans and waiting for crises, but by quickly improvising plans to meet a particular crisis.
Method: small steps, each in a response to an actual problem
Examples:
- WWII -> Franco-british union (failed)
- post-WWII chagrin -> ECSC
- cold war, Korean war -> EDC (failed)
- [what seemed like a] energy transition -> Euroatom
But you can, of course, rephrase that as random improvisation paired with a penchant for building international organization. Add a post-hoc rationalization, and there you go.
I think this may be underappreciating Monnet's method. Yes, it is often described as doing small steps where large steps are politically impossible, but there's more to it. For each of those steps, a recurring pattern seems to be applied: At the beginning, there's no political will to do the step. Never mind, network will all the stakeholders, so that you have access once needed. Wait for a crisis that makes the step necessary, or at least palatable. Propose the solution. If it does not work, wait and try again during the next crisis. Rinse and repeat with each small step.
This does not seem to match what Monnet did. Where he achieved integration, it was not because of long-term plans and waiting for crises, but by quickly improvising plans to meet a particular crisis.
I see it this way:
Long-term goal: unification
Method: small steps, each in a response to an actual problem
Examples:
- WWII -> Franco-british union (failed)
- post-WWII chagrin -> ECSC
- cold war, Korean war -> EDC (failed)
- [what seemed like a] energy transition -> Euroatom
But you can, of course, rephrase that as random improvisation paired with a penchant for building international organization. Add a post-hoc rationalization, and there you go.