The American response to regionalism in Europe : equal partners or rivals?

Abstract

This thesis concentrates on a specific aspect of the Euro-American relationship, namely American responses to European regionalism. Furthermore, the intent here is to perform a historical and theoretical analysis of two periods, the Cold War and the War on Terror. The goal is to find out if American responses have changed or remained mostly the same during these two periods.

At the centre of this evaluation are a number of different theories. The idea is to define these theories, and weigh their relative usefulness in explaining evolving American responses to regionalism in Europe.

In addition to the analysis this thesis briefly discusses the possibility of the EU emerging as a counterweight to the U.S. in international politics.