📖 American Military Commitments in Europe. Power, Perceptions and Neo-classical Realism.

Four motives contend for the title of main determinant of international behavior: power, security, economic gains, and ideals. These four can best be tested by comparing five American military commitments in Europe: World War I, World War II, the establishment of NATO at the beginning of the Cold War, the perpetuation of NATO after the end of the Cold War, and the campaigns in the Bosnia & Kosovo. The research finds that power was the predominant factor. As American relative power grew, the United States sought to increase control over European affairs by expanding its political interests in the continent. This, however, did not happen in a uniform manner. States do not expand when their relative national power increases, but rather when decision makers perceive a relative increase in state power. The theory most useful in explaining this is neoclassical realism. This theoretical perspective, extensive archival research on the beginning of the Cold War, and scores of interviews with high ranking officials in the 1990''s reveal an American Empire frame of mind.