Europe without America

by John Palmer

Published December 1987
The post-war world of the Atlantic Alliance is breaking up. Relations between the United States and its European allies are approaching crisis point; there is widespread European distrust of the Reagan administration's foreign and defence policies; there are deep disagreements within NATO about future security policy; and Europe and the United States threaten trade war as protectionist pressure arise and mass unemployment persists. A recipe for disaster or a chance to think again? As far as Europe is concerned these developments pose enormous dangers but also exciting new opportunities: will the world split up into increasingly protectionist and antagonistic states; or will a new European unity emerge, embracing not only Western Europe but also Europe east of the Iron Curtain? John Palmer, an internationally known journalist and commentator on European affairs, examines the historical background to the current crisis and argues that it is no passing phase but rather a central feature of the crumbling economic and political order of the West. In this trenchant and thought-provoking analysis he focuses on the options available - and challenges Europe to think again.
General educated readership; politicians; students of international affairs, modern European and American history.