The Entangling Alliance

In an earlier study, Toward an Entangling Alliance: American Isolationism, Internationalism, and Europe, 1901-1950, Powaski described the events, factors, and personalities that contributed to the American decision to abandon a century-and-a-half-old isolationist tradition and join an entangling alliance with European nations. This study is a continuation of the story of America's involvement in Europe's security affairs since 1950. In it, Powaski explains why America expanded its military commitment to Europe--including the stationing of U.S. combat forces, both nuclear and conventional, on the continent--and why the U.S. military presence in Europe is now declining. In addition, Powaski describes the issues and personalities that have divided, as well as united, the United States and its European allies, and why, despite these disagreements, America's involvement in the entangling alliance is likely to endure.

RONALD E. POWASKI is the author of March to Armageddon: The United States and the Nuclear Arms Race, 1939 to Present; Thomas Merton on Nuclear Weapons; and Toward an Entangling Alliance: American Isolationism, Internationalism, and Europe, 1901-1950 (Greenwood, 1991).