The Transatlantic Partnership: an Alliance for Peace and Progress

Abstract

It has become a commonly expressed statement among political analysts after the end of the Cold War that the transatlantic relationship between the United States and Europe has ceased to be self-evident. In fact, American engagement in Europe has always been anything but self-evident. The American decision in favor of a European engagement in the First World War was only a brief interlude. After the end of the First World War, the United States left Europe — with the well-known consequences. After the Second World War, however, the United States decided to stay in Europe and participated in the reconstruction of Germany and the rest of Europe.