Abstract
The lack of power exercised by the European Union (EU) in the international security arena explains its relative invisibility in the US. When Americans do recognise the EU, their interpretations of American history shape their responses to it. Whether puzzled by the loss of sovereignty or by the continuing strength of national identity, the American understanding of European integration cannot be divorced from Americans’ own understanding of the American process of nation-building and the exercise of federal power.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
3 See, for example, Michael Barone (2001).
References
Barone, M. (2001) The New Americans: How the Melting Pot Can Work Again, Washington, DC: Regnery Publishing.
Deutsch, K., Burrell, S., Kann, R., Lee, M., Lichtermann, M., Loewenheim, F. and Van Wagenen, R. (1957) Political Community and the North Atlantic Area, Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Freeman, D.S. (1934) R.E. Lee: A Biography, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons.
Hanson, V.D. (2002) ‘Goodbye to Europe?’ Commentary 114(3): 21–25.
Keohane, R.O. (2003) ‘Ironies of Sovereignty: The European Union and the United States’ in J.H.H. Weiler, I. Begg and J. Peterson (eds.), Integration in an Expanding European Union: Reassessing the Fundamentals, Oxford: Blackwell.
McAllister, J. (2002) No Exit: America and the German Problem, 1943–1954, Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
Riker, W.H. (1975) ‘Federalism’ in F. Greenstein and N.W. Polsby (eds.), Handbook of Political Science, Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, pp. 93–172.
Trachtenberg, M. (1999) A Constructed Peace: The Making of the European Settlement, 1945–1963, Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
This paper was delivered on 2 September 2004 at the Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association to the panel on ‘The United States of Europe? American and European Models of the EU?’, 2–5 September 2004, Chicago, IL.
2 This paper addresses the views of Americans who are not scholars involved in EU studies. When I refer to ‘Americans’ I am referring to those not specialising in the study of European integration.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Sbragia, A. seeing the european union through american eyes: the EU as a reflection of the american experience. Eur Polit Sci 4, 179–187 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.eps.2210027
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.eps.2210027