ABSTRACT
This chapter shows how older forms of sociocultural anti-Americanism fused with the more political anti-Americanism of the early Cold War to form a new and powerful mixture that threatened to severely undermine, if not destroy, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the Atlantic alliance. Retinger was well aware of European traditions of cultural anti-Americanism. The central paradox of anti-Americanism in Western Europe was that precisely this US commitment to Europe caused widespread concern. The committee's report identified "attitudes towards war" as the most important difference between Europe and America. US-imposed restrictions on East-West trade added to the impression that Washington abused its economic power to bully the Europeans into submission. By the time the committee finished its report, the campaign for the presidential election in the United States was in full swing. Shortly after the election, Prime Minister Antoine Pinay even publicly rebuked American efforts to influence French colonial and financial policies.
