The End of American Europe

From early in the 1940s, US policymakers started planning for Europe’s postwar order. The plan that emerged involved the creation of a distinctively American Europe, which included a federation of democratic states. While Europeans like to think that they were responsible for the project of European integration, they were largely executing a plan that Americans had set in motion. American Europe has endured for roughly 80 years. The current US administration is now seeking to dismantle this state-form and replace it with a new state form, which I call Civilizational America. This talk explains the rise and fall of American Europe. It poses the question- what does non-domination require in a world where a relatively benign hegemony has given way to predatory hegemony?

Co-Sponsors

European Cultural Studies
European Union Program at Princeton
European Politics and Society Program
Liechtenstein Institute on Self-Determination