Alarming Drum is a trenchant analysis of the UK’s past and present relationship with the European Union, together with a percipient scrutiny of global strategic prospects for the next half century. The economy dominates the investigation, but other components, such as projected military and demographic developments, are also covered. The central thesis is that European countries need treaties to extend the scale and scope of their actions in domains such as trade, defence and security, but the EU treaties actually in force are seriously misconceived. The pending referendum on the Constitution provides a timely opportunity to rethink our commitments. Peter Morgan has lived and worked on the continent for much of his life. He was Marketing Director for IBM Europe and, as Director General of the Institute of Directors, was involved in the negotiations surrounding the Maastricht Treaty, EMU and the Social Chapter. He was one of the UK delegates to the Brussels-based European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), for which he was awarded an MBE in 2003.