Robert Kagan's keen eye brings to the fore an issue that is often ignored in terms of its contemporary importance. Throughout modern history, the United States and Europe have differed in both tact and outlook, yet this critical fact has almost become the backdrop to the changing pace of events today. The histories of both continents are quite varied, but they are also intertwined - which is why their points of view are so disparate. In Of Paradise and Power, Mr. Kagan sheds light on precisely these reasons, but unfortunately at the same time offers only weak solutions. Nonetheless, his book discusses a topic that has long been swept under the rug, and does so in great detail. Kagan begins by addressing the issue directly: the United States and Europe clearly disagree on how to handle current events. The United States is currently the leading superpower, whose slightest whim can start a chain of events that extend across the globe. That's because the United States is a military power that prefers to shoot before it talks (or, in some cases, talks with a gun in its hand). The country's political leaders believe that it is ideologically supreme, and therefore must use their strength to spread these good ideas to places in the world where they believe they are lacking. Europe, on the other hand, is relatively weak compared to the size of the country. The muscles of America. The continent has been tormented by the last two world wars and has therefore developed a set of ideals that do not revolve around power and military defense. Over the centuries, Europe was the original superpower, conquering foreign lands and reciprocally using brute, destructive force. Now that they have learned from the terror caused by supreme militarization and radical ideology, Europeans have become more state-oriented and have therefore fallen behind the United States. The biggest blow came to Europe during World War II, which essentially ended its militaristic and colonial ideals. The collective term for all the problems that began then is the “German problem,” in which fanatical dogma was taken to the extreme. Europe, a superpower wounded by the First World War, never fully regained the status it had previously held. People understood that raising armies would no longer be beneficial to the future of the continent. Nation leaders now handle situations more diplomatically, albeit sometimes passively if the possibility of war looms.