"Empire" by Integration

This text is a comprehensive survey of the American policy towards European integration from 1945 to the present day. Geir Lundestad argues that, unlike other great powers, the United States strongly supported the integration of the most important area under its influence: Western Europe. This integration was, however, to take place within an American-dominated Atlantic framework. In the words of the author this was a policy of "empire" by integration. Lundestad takes a clear, chronological approach to the subject, from the beginnings of European integration after World War II, the challenge to American policy on European integration by President Charles de Gaulle, and the modified support for European integration in the Nixon-Kissinger years through to the present revived support for European integration under the Clinton administration. The text should be a useful textbook for courses including International Relations, US Modern History, and European Integration.

There has been, until now, no comprehensive history of United States policy toward European integration. Geir Lundestad's is a perceptive, well-informed, and yet succinct account, certain to become the standard treatment of the subject for years to come., This book is not simply a first-rate survey of a very important topic of post-World War Two international history. It is also an evocative and provocative analysis of US motives and tactics regarding European integration...Lundestad has made another first-rate contribution to the literature on American foreign relations., There is a great deal usefully summarized in this book; it should become a standard text for university courses, and an invaluable crib for the many who lack the time to read through the accumulation of historical evidence book by book.

Geir Lundestad is Director of the Norwegian Nobel Institute and Professor of International History at the University of Oslo. His numerous publications include The American "Empire" and other Studies of US Foreign Policy in Comparative Perspective (1990, The Fall of Great Powers, Peace, Stability, and Legitimacy (1994), and East, West, North, South: Major Developments in International Politics 1945-1996 (1997). Books by the sameauthor