ABSTRACT
The Cold War, with two super-powers serving to anchor rival alliances of clearly inferior powers, is model of bipolarity. Europe in 1914, with France, Germany, Great Britain, Austria-Hungary, and Russia positioned as great powers, is model of multipolarity. During the Cold War both superpowers were drawn into Third World conflicts across the globe, often in distant areas of little strategic importance. The most probable scenario in the wake of the Cold War is further nuclear proliferation in Europe. This outcome is laden with dangers, but it also might just provide the best hope for maintaining stability on the Continent. Without a common Soviet threat or an American night watchman, Western European states will do what they did for centuries before the onset of the Cold War—look upon one another with abiding suspicion. There are good reasons for being skeptical about the claim that a more powerful EC can provide the basis for peace in a multipolar Europe.
