The Atlantic Alliance through the Historian´s Looking Glass

• Main Author: Massimo de Leonardis
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: UNISCI 2019-06-01
• Series: Revista UNISCI
• Subjects: Atlantic Alliance; NATO; United States
• Online Access: http://www.unisci.es/the-atlantic-alliance-through-the-historians-looking-glass/

The article gives a long-term evaluation of the Atlantic Alliance in the context of contemporary world history. Actually, the American revolution had much more important impact on international relations than the French one and since their origins the United States envisaged a world role. The period of the Cold War was a parenthesis between two epochs in which the approach of the European countries and of the United States to international politics has been quite different, since their culture and historical experience are different. However, even during the Cold War it was impossible to create a real “Atlantic Community” as advocated in the Preamble and art. 2 of the Atlantic Treaty of 1949. The period after the Cold War saw diverging geopolitical perspectives among the NATO allies and President Trump gives rise to doubts on the importance he attaches to the Alliance. In conclusion, while NATO, the military structure, remains a formidable tool, the political alliance struggles to remain relevant.