The Strained Alliance: U.S.-European Relations from Nixon to Carter

The Strained Alliance: U.S.-European Relations from Nixon to Carter
Matthias Schulz and Thomas A. Schwartz, eds.
Publications of the German Historical Institute, Washington, DC, published in collaboration with Cambridge University Press

Editors Thomas A. Schwartz and Matthias Schulz will discuss findings from their recent book The Strained Alliance: U.S.-European Relations from Nixon to Carter.

Using a wide array of recently declassified archival materials from the United States and Western Europe, Schwartz and Schulz offer new insights into the changing dynamics of transatlantic relations during the era of detente (1969–1980). Their volume reveals why bitter conflicts developed between the U.S. and its European allies, and how European integration evolved less as a consequence of Washington’s support than as a result of America’s relative decline and growing U.S.-European discord. Taking into account the developments in various bilateral and multilateral settings, such as the European Community, the Helsinki process, and the G-7 summits, the volume's contributors show that a common alliance strategy has always been a difficult undertaking, often the result of bitter confrontation and painful compromises. 



Thomas A. Schwartz is a professor of history at Vanderbilt University where he specializes in the interaction between domestic politics and foreign policy, transnational coalitions and alliance politics, the role of the American presidency in alliance leadership, and the new international history of the Cold War. Schwartz's research has been published in numerous peer-reviewed journals and he is co-editor, most recently, of The Strained Alliance: U.S.-European Relations from Nixon to Carter.



Matthias Schulz has been professor of history of international relations at the University of Geneva since 2007. Prior to that he taught at the University of Mannheim, the University of Rostock and Vanderbilt University, where he also led the Center for European Studies. He is the author of numerous journal articles and three monographs, and most recently co-edited The Strained Alliance: U.S.-European Relations from Nixon to Carter with Thomas A. Schwartz.