Abstract
By the 1990s, the United States and the European Community (EC, later ‘European Union’) had arrived at a new juncture in the history of their partnership. Within their own domain, the United States and the EC are profoundly interdependent. Bilateral trade and investment, and the sales generated by investment, top $1 trillion annually and provide 6 million European and American jobs. Bilateral relations are also distinguished by political components: collective self-defence through the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation and similar commitments to political pluralism and market economics. At the same time, relations are often marked by contrasting positions on many major international and bilateral issues. Overall, the partnership is of immense value to both Americans and Europeans; yet in the 1990s, the United States and the EC have reached a new plateau in their bilateral relationship. No longer is the United States a hegemon with the EC orbiting in its sphere. Best described as a post-hegemonic and complex interdependent relationship, the US and EC have entered the 1990s on a much more equal basis with important implications for the future of their international relations.
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© 1996 Kevin Featherstone and Roy H. Ginsberg
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Featherstone, K., Ginsberg, R.H. (1996). Introduction. In: The United States and the European Union in the 1990s. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-24255-9_1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-24255-9_1
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