The Shadow of the Old Continent: How Do European Security Shape Future American Grand Strategy?

Abstract

This chapter aims to analyze whether European security shapes future American grand strategy or not. For restrainers, the present American grand strategy has to be revisited due to the fact that there is no balance of power logic for further American presence in Europe. Moreover, China is a great power to be balanced in Asia. The chapter problematizes the assumptions provided by restrainers. It will argue that the United States has been acting in Europe as the pacifier, and it has a deep-seated interest in European peace. European security has been built upon the American preponderance of power, and a potential imbalance of power is a threat to the United States. While Russia is a revisionist power in Europe intended to change the status quo in Europe, China is a great power in Asia. However, the United States has both sufficient material power and allies to balance Russia and China simultaneously, and pivoting to Asia requires no American pullback in Europe.

Citation

Öztürk, Ö. (2023), "The Shadow of the Old Continent: How Do European Security Shape Future American Grand Strategy?", Günar, A. and Saygın, D. (Ed.) The European Union in the Twenty-First Century, Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 183-193. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-80382-537-320231013