The West European Allies, the Third World, and U.S. Foreign Policy: Post-Cold War Challenges

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The recent and ongoing crises in the Middle East, the Persian Gulf, Central America, and southern Africa have been and continue to be approached in very different ways by the United States and its West European allies. Richard J. Payne outlines how the many future challenges to the strategic alliance of the US and the NATO countries will have to be adapted to a new and less confrontational world, emphasizing the international economic situation over political or ideological factors. Payne maintains that despite years of divergent views on how to handle Third World trouble spots, strains within the Western Alliance can be alleviated in the future by diplomatic and cooperative means. This book provides a comprehensive analysis of the underlying tensions and cooperation between the United States and Western Europe in their aproaches to the Soviet Union, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the Iran-Iraq War and Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, the Nicaraguan Sandinistas, and the struggle for ideological and political control of southwestern Africa. American and European strategies and interests in the Third World greatly affected the broader issues of detente, Eastern-Western European relations, America's leadership abilities, and ulimately NATO itself. The lessening of ideological confrontations between Moscow and Washington, Payne affirms, was followed by the revolutionary changes in Eastern Europe. This volume will be used in courses on international relations, American foreign policy, world politics, Third world politics, global issues, and West European politics. It should also be of value to political scientists and policymakers.

Author Bio

RICHARD J. PAYNE is Professor of Political Science at Illinois State University. He is the author of Dangers and Opportunities of Soviet-Cuban Expansion: Toward a Pragmatic U.S. Policy and The Nonsuperpowers and South Africa: Implications for U.S. Policy. Payne has written numerous articles for scholarly journals, including the Journal of Politics, African Affairs (London), and The Journal of Developing Areas.