Why America? The US role in European security architecture since 1945 4219-SG047

As has been the case for more than 70 years, the US security guarantee plays a central role in European defense. It’s become so endemic to European security architecture that no one thought it could ever be challenged. But when in 2016 US president Trump called the North Atlantic Alliance into question, and when a conventional war broke out in the heart of Europe, European leaders were forced to rethink the pillars of the European security architecture.
The current war in Ukraine (ongoing since 2014) and its outbreak after Russia’s full scale invasion on February 24, 2022 has challenged the post-World War II rules-based order and the values it has been built upon. It has, in addition, challenged the post- Cold War thinking about the European security and the role of the United States in the old continent’s security.
This course will discuss the major steps in developing the US presence and influence on European security architecture since 1945. It will discuss the key documents and ideological background that constitute the US-Europe’s relationship in the security sphere.
The above will be analyzed in the following thematic blocks:
1. Ideological foundations for US involvement in international affairs:
- The US and its policy of isolationism; walking away from isolationism; the WWI and the interwar period,
- American exceptionalism, “mission to the mankind” and the Wilsonian moralism for post - WW2 international liberal order,
- Key US presidential doctrines and their impact on policy directions in the post WW2 period.

2. International liberal post-war order:
- The US and Europe on the onset of the Cold War; Truman doctrine, the Marshall Plan and relations with the Western Europe, US relations with the Soviet Union; foundation of the United Nations (1945) and the North Atlantic Alliance/NATO (1949),
- American policy towards post-war Germany; the Berlin Wall and the Cold War struggle over Germany; reunification and security of Europe,
- Arms race and arms control: the disarmament process and the 1975 Helsinki Act – foundation of the CSCE/OSCE,
- European Community/Western European Union/EU’s Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP).
3. The end of the Cold War and searching for a new “grand” strategy for/by the United States:
- Transatlantic relations (security and economy) under presidents: George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barrack Obama, Donald Trump, Joe Biden,
- Key documents related to the American national security interests as defined by the post - Cold War presidencies,
- 21st century security challenges, new trans-border challenges and the transatlantic security cooperation; war in Ukraine, unrest/wars in the Middle East, security challenges in Asia,
- changes to European security architecture; US bilateral security relations with European countries.