PLEASE RED: US and Global Question!?

Question

This question is in NO way intended to "start" anything with any countries, as I have the ultimate respect for our allies.

Do you think that our allies (England, Germany, etc.) would feel vunerable (economicaly and security) if the United States was not the world power it is today? Also, do you think the europian union would be as powerful as it is today if it wernt for America?

Please no hate posts, this is a question for educational purposes.

Thanks

Pre-Cold War is the time period.

Answer 1

They would feel vulnerable. If the U.S. was not the dominate power in the world, some other country would vie for that position - in fact, there are countries that would like to replace the U.S. as the dominate power.

If it weren't for the U.S. the European Union wouldn't exist. They decided to form that union in the hopes of competing with the U.S. for world influence.

If the U.S. wasn't dominate in the pre-cold war era, the Soviet Union and China would be dominate right now.

Answer 2

America was a vast plain of subsistence farmers and hunters for centuries, while Europe enjoyed the most accelerated period of progress in the history of living creatures. I think w/o the American 'superpower', Europe would continue with its old ways, as it has always done, with back room deals, inter-cultural relationships and bonds forged to prevent future conflict, breakaway regimes that build up military to subjugate other European cultures, and eventually find themselves stretched too thin (Messrs Napoleon and Hitler)...So, perhaps the EU would fear economic distress imposed on them by Russia (who loves doing that sort of stuff with natural resources) or by China (who beats the living daylights out of countries through economic, rather than military, force). But eventually, Europeans would sell all or part of the farm just to stay alive, as they've done for millennia. So if there was vulnerability, it'd be short-lived.

Collective Europe is powerful today because of two things:

a) the U.S. saved Europe's tail during WW2 and woke up the continental nations to the global threats against them, forging the...

b) European Union, which erased some of the most debilitating bases of grievance and conflict between euro nations and helped develop an economic and political bloc that has a much greater voice united, than divided.

The U.S. felt it had to preserve the cultural and societal kin on the right bank of the Atlantic during WW2 because the alternative would have been a world split between democratic/capitalistic elements and socialized/fascist elements (oh wait, that's where we are TODAY, never mind!)...

So without Lend/Lease, Pearl Harbor, D-Day and August 1945, perhaps the EU would never have been...but unlike some peoples who've had one chance after another slip through their fingertips (PALESTINE!) because they were unwilling to seize the moment, Europe realized that a stand together is much preferable and beneficial to the individual state, than a disjointed collection of conflicting interests that more often than not led to war.

Kudos to the U.S. for viewing Europe as salvageable, and kudos to Europe for, so far, getting its act together.

Answer 3

I agree with the previous response, your question is too broad to be able to respond in an intelligent manner. You need to narrow it and focus on a specific time period.

Something like:
Would the EU be what it is today had the US not recuperated from the oil embargo of the 70's? How did commerce between the US and the EU over the last 3 decades shape the EU's status today?

Answer 4

The face of the global map would be vastly different if the US were not the global power it is today. It really depends on which point in World History that you wanted to prevent the US's ascension. Pre-WWII? The Europe we know today would not exist. Pre-Cold War? The global map would be different, due to the ComIntern's activities. Pick a place in history, and we can discuss it.

Answer 5

Western Europe benefits by being under America's military umbrella. Without America they would have been vulnerable too Soviet expansion. If it weren't for America, the European Union would have by necessity been stronger to resist the Soviets.