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On Thursday, November 3, the German Marshall Fund hosted the U.S. release of Mark Leonard’s Why Europe Will Run the 21st Century.  Mr. Leonard, foreign policy director at the London-based Centre for European Reform, wrote the book while serving as a Transatlantic Fellow at GMF’s Washington headquarters.   The event, attended by a packed audience of more than 70 participants, featured a debate between Mr. Leonard and John C. Hulsman of the Heritage Foundation.  Leonard began the discussion by outlining the book’s thesis that the European Union’s strength as a global actor lies in the influence it wields as a “transformative power.”  The EU, and the lure of membership, has had a revolutionary impact along its borders, and for the first time in 50 years “the United States needs Europe more than the other way around.”   Leonard described the EU’s power as a kind of silent guiding hand rooted in its ability to attract other countries.  "The worst thing the EU can do is nothing," he said, indicating that ignoring a neighbor was punishment far worse than asking it to change significantly to meet the terms of membership.  H e argued that the EU’s success will result in a paradigm shift in global power as other regions of the world seek to emulate the EU by creating their own neighborhood clubs.  The 21st century, Leonard predicted, will be one of integrated multi-national structures like the EU, Mercosur, and ASEAN.   In his rebuttal, John Hulsman doubted that Europe would lead the world beyond the Westphalia model of the nation-state.  He praised the EU for its role in spurring democratic reform in Georgia and Ukraine, but contended that global politics would continue to be played largely between individual countries.  He pointed to European efforts to halt Iran’s nuclear ambitions — led by the UK, France and Germany instead of the EU as a whole — and Brussels’ own call to deal with rising national powers China and India.  Hulsman also said that the European Union would struggle to build momentum around its success so far because of the crisis it faces after the failed constitutional referenda in France and the Netherlands earlier this year.  “You can’t just say anymore, Well, just ignore the will of the people.”   Click here for more information or to purchase the book.