At last a study that sets contemporary European security and the European Union in its broader transatlantic context.
Professor Michael Cox, London School of Economics

Toje’s book provides a clear-headed, solid assessment of America’s continued influence – for better or worse – on the community-building process in Europe.
Stanley R. Sloan, Atlantic Community Initiative and Middlebury College

Asle Toje has indeed fulfilled a much needed niche in the study of European Security and transatlantic relations . . . one of the few enjoyable reads on the subject of European security in recent years.
Dr Gülnur Aybet, University of Kent

Well researched and very readable.
Professor Jolyon Howorth, Yale University

This book provides a provocative analysis of relations between Europe and America during the tempestuous years 1998–2004. Analysing EU foreign policy, it concludes that the lessons learnt in interacting with America have been crucial in shaping the emerging EU strategic culture.

The book challenges established orthodoxy regarding the sui generis nature of the European Union. Through detailed case studies, it shows how the US influenced decisions during the formative years of the EU foreign and security policy: during the 1999 Kosovo war, the EU and NATO enlargement processes, and the 2003 Iraq crisis. However, the book argues that although policy ends may be defined by the US, the EU is growing increasingly confident in selecting distinctively “European” means to achieve these goals. These findings have important implications for understanding both the EU as a foreign policy actor and of the EU–US partnership at the start of the twenty-first century.

This book will be of interest to students of transatlantic security, EU politics, contemporary history and US foreign policy, as well as students of IR in general.

The author Asle Toje is a Research Fellow at the Norwegian Institute for Defence Studies. He has a PhD in International Relations from Pembroke College, Cambridge.