European Isolation and the EC
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In the period after World War II, the United States arguably looked past Europe toward the Eastern bloc more than actually involving herself with the issues facing Europe, with the forces that would bring Europe to its present state of semi-unification and developing autonomy in a regional sense. While the U.S. may have seemed closely involved in the affairs of Europe through special alliances such as NATO and the United Nations, much of the interest displayed in Europe was really a desire to check the communists rather than to develop Europe or understand European internal concerns. Much of the time, as a result, the United States was resented as much as admired. Over that same history, of course, the U.S has become more and more enmeshed in the affairs of Asia and the Pacific Rim. In American politics, the Democrats in recent years have been criticized for ignoring certain groups, such as blacks, on the assumption that they have nowhere else to go. This is often how Europe has been treated as well, with the assumption that Europe really has nowhere else to turn but to the United States. Where Europe has turned to a great degree is inward, and this new European isolationism is apparent now in reluctance among U.N. members to become enmeshed in the slightest degree in the troubles in Bosnia. Walter Laqueur in his book Europe in Our Time identifies the present era as one of growing optimism in Europe, and it is true that the inward-turning of Europe has been fueled by
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e larger by political actions taken by partisan groups within each society. For most of this period, Europe has been pushed and pulled between the United States and the Soviet Union. European governments wanted to remain as autonomous as possible but found it necessary to cede certain prerogatives to groups like NATO and the UN and to the military might of the United States, but at the same time this need to be somewhat dependent always rankled. This was a source of much of the anti-American feeling and action taken over the period by different political groups. It has also been an impetus to the formation of the EC to achieve economic independence for Europe as a whole if not for individual countries. For some, it is also a source of motivation for the seeking of political unity, though here the differences remain strong enough to keep the countries apart, each dedicated to protecting its sovereignty to the greatest degree possible while trying to benefit from any possible benefits to accrue from economic integration.
The countries of Europe have always had much in common because of geography and a shared history, even when that history marked internal rivalries and tensions. These countries developed their political struc
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1603
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)
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