ABSTRACT
The new European security situation in the wake of the revolution of 1989 has created an entirely new post-war situation for the major West European powers. This chapter aims to identify the mid-to-long term factors of change in the European security environment, the role of the major European powers and institutions in that environment, the residual roles of the Americans and Soviets and the resulting Europeanization challenges. The European security environment in the wake of the changes of 1989 intermixes several concurrent challenges. The process commonly referred to as "1992" represents the culmination of decades of post-war European economic and political development. The American involvement in West European security is a critical variable as well in the evolving European security equation. To deal with the European security challenges of the 1990s and the superpower roles in the period ahead, Europeanization will become critical to the viability of the Western Alliance and to the future of collective security within Europe.
