US-European Relations from the Twentieth to the Twenty-first Century.

This article focuses on the U.S.-European relations from the twentieth to the twenty-first century in context of conflict in Iraq. The events that led to the recent U.S.-Great Britain campaign in Iraq created severe strains in the U.S.'s relations with some of its European allies. These strains, in turn, have impacted on both NATO and the EU. Even before the military campaign turned into occupation, a start was made on repairing the damage to transatlantic relations. The purpose of this paper from an American's perspective is not so much to predict the outcome of diplomatic initiatives, as it is to examine the main trends and factors that caused the strains: the "Messianic" aspects of U.S. foreign policy, the changes in U.S.-European power relations since World War II, post-cold war events and experiences, and the key diplomatic events that preceded the Iraqi Campaign.