Oh no, it’s not common at all day to day. US foreign policy has been heavily liberal & internationalist for a century or so now in a manner that deeply affects public opinion of it and its effects. More realist lenses such as this have enjoyed splendid isolation in their IR niches until somewhat recently, but even that slight bump in popularity is mostly negligible outside DC and academia.
Each of your doubts could be addressed with a book/subfield of study, so this will be very high level, unsatisfying, inevitably colored, and in the same vein of perspective as before:
2. Mostly as it relates to balancing and the results of that, though as you’ve pointed out this could all easily be viewed as balancing against the USSR (though the context, lack of relative economic power & length of time in alliance preclude this somewhat, alliances don’t necessarily prevent peer conflict, especially over time and as the participants strengths vary!).
3. Sort of? Cold War era alliances were standing, and meant to ensure peace vs reactive with a finite life span and intended to address a specific crisis, e.g. Napoleon. This obviously existed beforehand though, and indeed led to WWI. I’m not sure of the exact historical trends on this.
4. The eastern half was still soviet for one, France was very strong in the form of EC at the time and didn’t like NATO dominating/expanding for two, and Thatcher was just Thatcher for three. The whole process of reunification was such a fantastic example of skillful diplomacy on both sides that I really can’t do it justice here, suffice to say that US efforts pushed an uneasy/unwilling FR/UK to commit to the process, the “Two Plus Four” negotiating format, and Germany in NATO while brokering the guarantees and associated issues that led the USSR to accepting. Really recommend checking out the history of this if you have the interest and time, fascinating period of history.
And decolonization was absolutely key to integration! Staying on brand, I would only question whether it was fully voluntary (Suez), and whether the global cessation of translating military force into economic success among US allies post Bretton Woods & the WWII destruction of every single other blue water navy had more of an effect.
Finally, the third world was a battleground. External powers and powers in general often do cause instability, but the US in this case held near complete hegemony over Western Europe, and hegemony is quite closely linked with stability in general. One can also look at the relative internal placidity of the eastern bloc while the soviets held control, and its aftermath.
I’m not exactly sure as to what your last paragraph asks, but I’ve had enough fun writing this as is, whew.
Each of your doubts could be addressed with a book/subfield of study, so this will be very high level, unsatisfying, inevitably colored, and in the same vein of perspective as before:
1. https://europa.eu/european-union/sites/europaeu/files/pictur... , can also see the concert and it’s rocky phases leading up to WWI here.
2. Mostly as it relates to balancing and the results of that, though as you’ve pointed out this could all easily be viewed as balancing against the USSR (though the context, lack of relative economic power & length of time in alliance preclude this somewhat, alliances don’t necessarily prevent peer conflict, especially over time and as the participants strengths vary!).
3. Sort of? Cold War era alliances were standing, and meant to ensure peace vs reactive with a finite life span and intended to address a specific crisis, e.g. Napoleon. This obviously existed beforehand though, and indeed led to WWI. I’m not sure of the exact historical trends on this.
4. The eastern half was still soviet for one, France was very strong in the form of EC at the time and didn’t like NATO dominating/expanding for two, and Thatcher was just Thatcher for three. The whole process of reunification was such a fantastic example of skillful diplomacy on both sides that I really can’t do it justice here, suffice to say that US efforts pushed an uneasy/unwilling FR/UK to commit to the process, the “Two Plus Four” negotiating format, and Germany in NATO while brokering the guarantees and associated issues that led the USSR to accepting. Really recommend checking out the history of this if you have the interest and time, fascinating period of history.
And decolonization was absolutely key to integration! Staying on brand, I would only question whether it was fully voluntary (Suez), and whether the global cessation of translating military force into economic success among US allies post Bretton Woods & the WWII destruction of every single other blue water navy had more of an effect.
Finally, the third world was a battleground. External powers and powers in general often do cause instability, but the US in this case held near complete hegemony over Western Europe, and hegemony is quite closely linked with stability in general. One can also look at the relative internal placidity of the eastern bloc while the soviets held control, and its aftermath.
I’m not exactly sure as to what your last paragraph asks, but I’ve had enough fun writing this as is, whew.