The Atlantic Alliance in the Long 20th Century

A Modern History of US-European Relations

Alessandra Bitumi

• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
• Year: 2026
• Edition: 1
• eBook ISBN:
  9781350583733
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: 20th Century History
• Index: History

This volume offers a comprehensive analysis of transatlantic relations throughout the long 20th century.

Reflecting on the tensions between identity and alterity, which have informed the relationship between Europe and the United States since the colonial era, The Atlantic Alliance in the Long 20th Century takes a transnational approach to situate Euro-American history within a global context and provide an understanding of how the Atlantic alliance has been built, maintained and challenged.

Centring on the formation of "Atlantica", a political and security community that emerged after World War II, it raises critical questions about the nature and manifestation of American hegemony in Western Europe; what were the foundational pillars of this community, and how did the balance of power evolve within it? Also exploring the interplay between transatlantic relations and European integration, it asks how the EU and EC fitted into this Atlantic community, and seeks to understand whether the Atlanticist vision and European project had common goals, or were their processes antagonistic?

In examining the tensions between Atlanticism and Europeanism, and whether their approaches were independent or convergent, Bitumi sets out what this means for contemporary relations today. Arguing that the three foundational pillars of the Atlantic order- democracy, deregulated capitalism and cosmopolitan internationalism- have faced significant strain since the 2008 financial crisis, this book reflects on the origins of this crisis and the challenge it poses to the ongoing unity and cohesion of the Atlantic Alliance, and the trajectory of the Euro-American relationship.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Series Page
• Title
• Copyright
• Series Editor Preface
• Contents
• Introduction
• 1 Navigating identities: The dynamics of transatlantic encounters
• 2 Battles and bonds: The transformative impact of the world wars on transatlantic relations
• 3 Building the Atlantic Community: The Cold War in Europe
• 4 Europe recast: The Western bloc and the Atlantic imperative
• 5 A partnership of equals or a third force? Western Europe’s role in the transatlantic relationship
• 6 Beyond crisis: Reframing transatlantic relations in the long 1970s
• 7 Competing visions: Democracy, markets, and power in the post-1970s Atlantic world
• 8 The post–Cold War order: American hegemony, European transformation, and the return of war
• 9 Atlantica in turmoil: 9/11, terrorism, and the crisis of globalization (2001–16)
• 10 “The return of the barricades”: Atlantica in the age of global disruption1
• 11 Unhinged and unrestrained: The second Trump administration and the Atlantic order
• Bibliography
• Index