This is the first study of contemporary history based on systematic and sustained interviews with major history makers during the eventful second decade of the postwar period (1955-1965). The European Elite Panel Survey (TEEPS) conducted five successive waves of interviews with opinion leaders and policymakers in Britain, France, and Germany, as well as a special survey among the “European” decision-makers in Brussels.
In their reshaping of personal and public expectations, European elites have turned from inherited ideologies toward pragmatism, from nationalism toward transnationalism, from parochialism toward pluralism. Why and how these transformations have come about form the themes of this enlightening and important study which provides valuable keys to the future of NATO and Euratlantica in the world arena.
The changing perspectives of the continental elites as they faced the crucial issues of public policy in a critical decade are looked at from an historical and contextual point of view – based on the unique personal portraits and political opinions of the European leaders, as revealed through interviewed. The book is descriptive and data-based; its interpretations are derived by the modern analytic methods of opinion-attitude methodology, multivariate analysis, and computer-processing. It provides an indispensable source of knowledge for leaders of opinion, students of comparative politics and international relations, and informed citizens. Its lucid style enables the general reader, as well as the specialist, to assimilate the book's data and conclusions.
The major focus of the authors is on the evolution of European-American relations as a key to the future of world politics. They show that the European elites, among whom anti-Americanism is an occasional sport rather than a chronic ailment, consider the “American nexus” indispensable for the well-being of their continent. Indeed, it is by their changing perspectives on world politics are being shaped.
Those who influence the making of policy as well as those who study its effects will find Euratlantica a key work in the critical years ahead as the post-Gaullist debate on NATO's future opens the way to even deeper discussions of the technological gap, Atlantic “partnership,” aid to the developing areas, and, indeed, the future of Western society in a changing and risky world environment.
Contents
Part A: Contexts • Introduction • Chapter One, Europe and Atlantica: The American Nexus • Chapter Two, Europe in the World Community • Chapter Three, The Story of This Book
Part B: Issues • Introduction • Chapter Four, Protection: Military Issues • Chapter Five, Prosperity: Economic Issues • Chapter Six, Prestige: Ranking the Nations
Part C: Transformations • Introduction • Chapter Seven, Evaluations and Expectations: Projecting New Images • Chapter Eight, Ideology and Identity: Reshaping Old Values • Chapter Nine, Postures and Processes: The Nations in Transition
Part D: Perspectives • Introduction • Chapter Ten, The New Pragmatism: Consensus in Diversity • Chapter Eleven, The View from Brussels • Chapter Twelve, Euratlantic Retrospects and Prospects • Eight Annexes • Notes • Index
