Transatlantic Relations

This module explores relations between America and Europe over the last century, mainly from the American perspective. The overarching theme is that the United States has tended to view Europe, and Europeans, through a prism of two contradictory sets of ideas. On one hand, Americans have always viewed Europe as a fallen continent, with problematic political cultures, that pose a threat to American liberty. This has led to a long-running desire to remain aloof from, and untainted by, problems on the other side of the Atlantic. At the same time, however, Americans have long been influenced by a powerful tendency to seek to uplift the rest of the world, with Europe often representing the most tempting target. This impulse has been encouraged by the many factors that link Americans to Europe. A variety of approaches ? intellectual, cultural, diplomatic, military and economic ? are utilized in order to appreciate the full complexity of this dichotomy.