First published in 1967, Jean-Jacques Servan-Schreiber's book 'Le Défi Américain', or the 'American Challenge', became an immediate sensation in France, selling over 400,000 copies in just a few months. In his analysis, Servan-Schreiber argued that Europe’s economic struggles - particularly in France - were not the result of flawed trade or fiscal policies but rather the structural weakness of European businesses in competing with American firms. His book sparked intense debate about the US economic dominance, transatlantic relations, and Europe’s ability to modernise and innovate in response. This roundtable will critically examine the 'American Challenge' and its relevance in today's global economy. How have European industries adapted since Servan-Schreiber’s warning? Does the American model still shape economic and technological competition today? Join us for a thought-provoking discussion with leading scholars on history, law, and political economy.
Speakers:
Professor Glenda Sluga is Professor of International History and Capitalism. In 2020, she was awarded a European Research Council Advanced Grant, overseeing a five-year research program on ‘Twentieth Century International Economic Thinking and the complex history of globalization.’ In 2021, Princeton University Press published her latest book, ‘The Invention of International Order: Remaking Europe after Napoleon’. Professor Sluga is also an Australian Research Council Kathleen Fitzpatrick Laurate Fellow, as the recipient in 2013 of a five-year fellowship for ‘Inventing the International’. She is also a Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities.
Professor Erik Jones is Director of the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies at the European University Institute. Professor Jones is author of The Politics of Economic and Monetary Union (2002), Economic Adjustment and Political Transformation in Small States (2008), Weary Policeman: American Power in an Age of Austerity (2012, with Dana H. Allin), and The Year the European Crisis Ended (2014). He is editor or co-editor of books and special issues of journals on topics related to European politics and political economy including The Oxford Handbook of the European Union (2012) and The Oxford Handbook of Italian Politics (2015).
Professor Nicolas Petit is the Head of the Law Department, Professor of Competition Law at the Department of Law of the European University Institute (EUI). His research in recent years has focused on EU and US competition law, competition and innovation, law and economics, and law in a context of technological change. Nicolas Petit has published his scholarly research in top journals including the Antitrust Law Journal, European Law Review, Review of Industrial Organisation, Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Common Market Law Review, Columbia Journal of European Law and Berkeley Journal of Law & Technology. The SSRN rankings position Nicolas Petit at number 23 among the top 3000 LAW authors.