Between Empire and Alliance: America and Europe During the Cold War

The steadfast alliance between America and Europe represents one of the most important and complex political relationships in the modern world. But with the end of the Cold War, America and Europe seem to be drifting apart. In Between Empire and Alliance, scholars from both sides of the Atlantic examine the most intense phase of the Cold War--the quarter century from 1950 to 1974--to explore the ever-changing relationship between the United States and Europe. At the height of the Cold War, America took on the role of Europe’s great protector, but rather than create a sense of safety for the Europeans, this dependence on an outside power for protection became the source of great anxiety in Europe. Using archival documents that have only recently become available, the contributors consider the political, social, and economic implications of specific American policies on European nations and, more importantly, the role of American support in the drive for European unification. Providing a picture of U.S.-European relations both during the Cold War and today, Between Empire and Alliance sheds new light on the future of America and Europe.

Marc Trachtenberg is professor of political science at University of California, Los Angeles and is the author of A Constructed Peace: The Making of the European Settlement, 1945-1963.