Book contents
- Frontmatter
- POLITICS: Détente and Multipolarity: The Cold War and German-American Relations, 1968-1990
- 1 The United States and the German Question
- 2 The Federal Republic of Germany Between the American and Russian Superpowers - “Old Friend” and “New Partner”
- 3 Ostpolitik: Détente German-Style and Adapting to America
- 4 Creative Tension: The United States and the Federal Republic in the CSCE
- 5 The United States, Germany, and the Multilateralization of International Relations
- 6 Expectations of Dominance and Partnership Rhetoric: The Federal Republic of Germany in the Crossfire of American and French Policy, 1945-1990
- 7 West Germany and European Unity in U.S. Foreign Policy
- 8 Cooperation and Conflict in German and American Policies toward Regions Outside Europe
- 9 Two States, One Nation: The International Legal Basis of German-American Relations from Ostpolitik to Unification
- 10 The U.S. Congress and German-American Relations
- 11 The German Political Parties and the USA
- 12 The Role of East Germany in American Policy
- 13 The United States and German Unification
- SECURITY: German-American Security Relations, 1968-1990
- ECONOMICS: Cooperation, Competition, and Conflict: Economic Relations Between the United States and Germany, 1968-1990
- CULTURE: Culture as an Arena of Transatlantic Conflict
- SOCIETY: German-American Societal Relations in Three Dimensions, 1968-1990
- 1 “1968”: A Transatlantic Event and Its Consequences
- OUTLOOK: America, Germany, and the Atlantic Community After the Cold War
- Index
7 - West Germany and European Unity in U.S. Foreign Policy
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 January 2013
- Frontmatter
- POLITICS: Détente and Multipolarity: The Cold War and German-American Relations, 1968-1990
- 1 The United States and the German Question
- 2 The Federal Republic of Germany Between the American and Russian Superpowers - “Old Friend” and “New Partner”
- 3 Ostpolitik: Détente German-Style and Adapting to America
- 4 Creative Tension: The United States and the Federal Republic in the CSCE
- 5 The United States, Germany, and the Multilateralization of International Relations
- 6 Expectations of Dominance and Partnership Rhetoric: The Federal Republic of Germany in the Crossfire of American and French Policy, 1945-1990
- 7 West Germany and European Unity in U.S. Foreign Policy
- 8 Cooperation and Conflict in German and American Policies toward Regions Outside Europe
- 9 Two States, One Nation: The International Legal Basis of German-American Relations from Ostpolitik to Unification
- 10 The U.S. Congress and German-American Relations
- 11 The German Political Parties and the USA
- 12 The Role of East Germany in American Policy
- 13 The United States and German Unification
- SECURITY: German-American Security Relations, 1968-1990
- ECONOMICS: Cooperation, Competition, and Conflict: Economic Relations Between the United States and Germany, 1968-1990
- CULTURE: Culture as an Arena of Transatlantic Conflict
- SOCIETY: German-American Societal Relations in Three Dimensions, 1968-1990
- 1 “1968”: A Transatlantic Event and Its Consequences
- OUTLOOK: America, Germany, and the Atlantic Community After the Cold War
- Index
Summary
The late 1960s and early 1970s proved to be a decisive turning point in America's strategy toward Europe. American support for the further integration of the European continent, including German unification, deteriorated considerably. The international economic difficulties of the period produced a climate of severe trade competition that began to dominate America's relations with the European Community (EC). To the economic problems were added serious European-American differences over security issues and NATO's policy toward the Soviet Union. Trade and security disputes became closely intertwined and contributed to the bitterness of transatlantic conflicts. During the last two decades of the Cold War, these conflicts were strongly influenced by the gradual emancipation of Western Europe from American tutelage. Despite its support for European reconstruction and integration after World War II, the United States had never intended to nourish an independent “third force” on the European continent. Although there was something unique about the way the American “empire” developed, the United States closely resembled a traditional great power in its desire to remain the undisputed leader of the Atlantic system. In the 1970s and 1980s, transatlantic mistrust and America's growing preoccupation with its own economic competitiveness and global standing pushed the leading EC member states into ever closer cooperation with each other.
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- The United States and Germany in the Era of the Cold War, 1945–1990A Handbook, pp. 62 - 68Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2004
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