ABSTRACT
American Atlanticism is a complex phenomenon that produces a simple result. The result is America’s willingness to regard itself as a European power, to behave as though the Atlantic Ocean offered no protection against the intrigues of European diplomacy and the force of European arms, and to commit itself to preserving peace in Europe as if its own security and domestic order were at stake. To those of us who consider ourselves Atlanticists, the need for this sort of American posture is selfevident. To those who oppose America’s European obligations, the Atlanticist posture is a quaint anachronism at best, a dangerous and expensive absurdity at worst. This chapter will not expound on either of those perspectives, because such expositions already exist in large numbers and because the future of American Atlanticism hinges less on its intellectual merits than on a complex set of attitudes, interests, personal experiences, and relationships within the U.S. body politic. Those will be examined here.
