University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Department of History
HIST 890 -- Fall 2014
Transatlantic Relations & Contemporary Geo-Politics:
from the Cold War to the Present.
The Atlantic Security Alliance, the U.S. and the Unity of Europe
& current developments in world politics
Prof. Klaus Larres
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Our class meets once a week:
Wednesdays, 5.00pm – 7.15pm
In Murphy, Room 105
Office hours in Room 416 Hamilton Hall:
Tuesdays, 3.00-4.00pm
Wednesdays, 3.30-4.30pm
or best by appointment
Email: [email protected]
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HIST 890–Fall 2014 - Transatlantic Relations & Contemporary Geo-politics:
from the Cold War to the Present – Prof. Klaus Larres
Overview for quick orientation
DATE
TOPIC
WEEK 1
Introduction and
Overview: 1945 to
the Present
Aug. 20
WEEK 2
Aug. 27
GUESTS in Class
YOUR NOTES
OTHER GUEST SPEAKERS
Sept. 3:
deadline - book
review
Tuesday, Sept. 9:
The Post-Cold War
Situation -Western relations
with
a) Russia &
Ukraine
b) Iraq, Iran & the
Middle East
WEEK 3
Sept. 3
WEEK 4
Sept. 10
Transatlantic
Relations:
THE BASICS 1 –
c. 1945-late 1950s
THE BASICS 2 late 1950s-late
1970s
Lecture by John Judis on
the Truman
Administration, the
Creation of Israel and
Palestine
4
WEEK 5
Sept. 17
(date to be
confirmed)
Session with
Guest presenter:
The Great
Recession & After:
the economic and
financial crisis,
2007/08 to the
present
Sept. 24
THE BASICS 3 the US and the EU
in the 1980s and
1990s.
WEEK 7
CASE STUDY 1:
October 1
Present at the
Creation: the
Schuman Plan &
NATO & the
Origins of the Cold
War
WEEK 8
CASE STUDY 2:
October 8
Turning Points?
The 1970s and its
Legacy
WEEK 6
WEEK 9
October 15
Antonio De Lecea
(economist, EU
Delegation,
Washington, DC)
Thursday, Sept. 25:
lecture by Sarah Snyder
on Human Rights and the
Cold War
October 1:
deadline – Essay 1
Tuesday, Oct. 7:
lecture by Randall Woods
on the CIA and the
Vietnam War
FALL BREAK – no
class
5
Tuesday, October 28:
October 22
Independent
Study & Research
& Writing of the
second long essay
WEEK 11
CASE STUDY 3:
Tuesday, November 4:
October 29
NATO - from the
1960s to the
present: Does
NATO still have a
purpose?
lecture by Robert Litwak
on the nuclear threat
posed by Iran and North
Korea
WEEK 12
CASE STUDY 4:
November 5
The End of the
Division of Europe,
the Maastricht
Treaty & the Euro
& ESDP
WEEK 13
Session with
Guest Speaker:
WEEK 10
November 12
Transatlantic
Relations & the
Middle East:
Iraq, Syria, Egypt,
Iran & Beyond
WEEK 14
CASE STUDY 5:
Monday,
November 17
The US and the EU
at Geopolitical
Loggerheads:
relations with
Russia, Ukraine &
the espionage
scandals of the
recent past
lecture by Gerhard
Weinberg on World War II
and the Creation of the
Borders of the Cold War
November 5:
deadline - Essay 2
Perhaps guest
speaker
Ambassador
Margit HellmannBoette (to be
confirmed)
Ambassador (ret.)
David Litt
(former US
ambassador to the
UAE)
Thursday, November 20:
Dr Peter Eltsov
(National Defense
University,
Washington, DC)
(to be confirmed)
lecture by H.W. Brands on
Reagan, Gorbachev and
the end of the Cold War
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THANKSGIVING no class
WEEK 15
November 26
WEEK 16
December 3
Return of final
essays and final
class discussion
SOCIAL OUTING
perhaps
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BRIEF COURSE DESCRIPTION:
This course considers transatlantic relations and the desire of the U.S. to construct a more
united European continent since the end of World War II. In view of the intensifying Cold War
with the Soviet Union, U.S. policy toward Western Europe had two major strands: 1. the security
dimension exemplified by the creation of NATO and the Atlantic security alliance, including
Washington's nuclear predominance; 2. the western world's ambition to build a united Europe
('ever closer union') that would eventually lead to a federally organized United States of Europe
on the model of the U.S.A. Both strands overlapped, complemented and competed with each
other over time. Within both strands serious difficulties, animosities and power struggles
developed and have continued to the present day (just consider the recent transatlantic
‘espionage’ scandals). American hegemony in the transatlantic alliance has never remained
unchallenged. In fact since the 1960s and early 1970s an ever intensifying transatlantic power
battle can be observed.
This course will focus on both of the above strands with perhaps a somewhat greater emphasis
on the second strand which tends to be neglected in the literature. We will consider and analyze
the complex history and politics of transatlantic relations during both the Cold War and the postCold War years; we will thus deal with the years from the Marshall Plan of 1947/48 to the
Maastricht treaty of 1991/92 and beyond, including the global economic & financial crisis and
the Euro crisis (and Washington's response to the crisis) of the last few years, the western
approach to the Middle East and relations with Russia (a ‘new Cold War’?).
In addition the course will to some extent also focus on other developments in world politics
since 1990. In particular some of our guest speakers will cover this area and draw a link to past
and present issues in transatlantic relations.
It is the main aim of this course to give students a structured overview of transatlantic relations
and geo-political developments during the Cold War and the post-Cold War years. The course
wishes to aid students’ analysis of transatlantic relations and world politics in their manifold
dimensions.
At the beginning of the course – after a session dealing with current geopolitical developments a three-week component “THE BASICS” will provide participants with the main elements of the
history and politics of transatlantic relations since 1945 for quick orientation. The other sessions
will deal with some major “CASE STUDIES” in transatlantic relations to deepen our knowledge
and understanding of transatlantic relations since 1945.
As in all graduate classes: students are expected to read at least one book and several articles
each week (see below)
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COURSE REQUIREMENTS:

This is a course which requires a lot of regular guided and also self-guided reading

Students are expected to give c. two oral presentations in class (c. 10 min.).
During most weeks there will be one or two student presentations in class and it is expected
that occasionally a student will take the lead regarding the class discussion.

Students are expected to write one book review of c. 1500 words and two research
essays of c. 3000 words each:
For the above students are requested to pick a topic of their choice dealing with the theme
of the course. Please check with me regarding the topic of your choice. Do NOT start writing
on your book review and essays before you have agreed the topic with me. For the book
review, pick a book of your choice that deals with the subject matter of the course. The book
ought to be at least 250 pages long (it should not be a textbook but preferably a scholarly
monograph) and normally not published before 2000.
Your chosen essay topics and the essay questions need to be agreed with your professor.
Naturally, the two essays (which have to cover two very different topics/questions) need to
be well structured (feel free to use sub-headings), well-written and have to include
footnotes/endnotes and a bibliography of the books/articles you have used.

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
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The essays should include the following features:
clear and logical thesis statement
substantive detail and knowledge about the subject
clear and coherent structure (logical transitions from one section to the next)
the use of two to four sensible sub-headings is recommended
grammar and spelling to a high standard
presentation and referencing system (footnotes/endnotes) to a high standard
bibliography of the material used

Naturally, students are also expected to attend regularly, read intensively and
participate actively in class.

Ph.D. students: you will have to submit a substantial research paper instead of the
second essay. You can pick a research topic yourself but the topic has to be agreed
with me.
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GRADING:


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
Oral presentations & regular attendance (including attendance of most of the talks in the
'Ambassadors Forum' and the 'U.S. in World Affairs' lecture series) & active participation
(quantity and quality): 20%
Book review: 20%
Essay 1: 30%
Essay 2: 30%
DEADLINES:




Book review:
Wednesday, September 3 (hand your review to me in class)
Essay 1:
Wednesday, October 1 (hand your essay to me)
Essay 2:
Wednesday, Nov. 5 (hand your essay to me)
Research paper for Ph.D. students: at the end of the semester - December 3.
READING REQUIREMENT:
In general students are expected to read one major book a week for this course as well as at
least two additional articles or book chapters of your choice (and dealing with the subject matter
of each week). Please select the relevant book from the reading listed for each week.
Students are required to find and select the two additional relevant articles/chapters
dealing with the topic of the respective weeks themselves (either online or best by
browsing in the library and using the library data bases, such as JSTOR etc).
Students are strongly encouraged to browse in the libraries (for example under D1065) and
discover many other good books and articles by themselves.
Recommended general introductory reading for background information:
[if in the course of this course you find that you appear to lack certain background information,
then please consult some of the books below to fill in the missing details and facts]

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Geir Lundestad, The United States and Western Europe since 1945 (OUP, 2003)
Geir Lundestad, ‘Empire by Integration’: The United States and European Integration, 19451997 (OUP, 1998)
Klaus Larres (ed.) The Blackwell Companion to Europe since 1945 (Blackwell, 2009;
paperback, 2013).
Mary Nolan. The Transatlantic Century: Europe and the United States, 1890–2010.
Cambridge UP, 2012).
Also if you can still find it: William Cromwell, The United States and the European Pillar:
The Strained Alliance (Macmillan, 1992).
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Overview of Themes & Topics
DATE
CLASS THEME & READING
SESSION CONTENT
WEEK 1
Introduction to the course
Course Organization
General introductions
Aug. 20,
2012
Overview:
“Transatlantic Relations from World War II
to the Present"
Required Reading:
WEEK 2
August 27

Consult the general introductory reading
listed above

Also investigate the latest developments
with the help of the Economist, Financial
Times, New York Times, Washington
Post, Guardian, BBC website
[www.bbc.co.uk/news].
The Post-Cold War Situation – western
relations with a) Russia/Ukraine b) Iraq,
Iran and the Middle East
Question for Presentation:
- why has President Obama’s ‘reset’ policy
with Russia failed?
- is the 2003 invasion of Iraq to be blamed for
the current malaise in Iraq, Syria and
elsewhere in the Middle East?
Student presentations
Discussion of weekly topic
& weekly reading
Things to
keep in
mind
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Required Reading:
Vali Nasr, Dispensable Nation: American
Foreign Policy in Retreat (Anchor Books,
2013)
OR select one of the many books on Putin
published since 2012.
Robert Kagan, “Superpowers don’t get to
retire: what our tired country still owes the
world (New Republic, May 26, 2014):
http://www.newrepublic.com/article/117859/al
lure-normalcy-what-america-still-owes-world
David Remnick, “Watching the Eclipse,” The
New Yorker (Aug. 11 & 18, 2014), pp.52-63.
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/0
8/11/watching-eclipse
Also see the variouis articles by Eltsov and
Larres on Russia/Ukraine:
www.klauslarres.blogspot.com (on left)
Other Articles/Chapters:
In addition – if you wish: select and read
one or two relevant articles/chapters of
your choice.
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WEEK 3
September 3
Transatlantic Relations:
The BASICS – ONE
The U.S., Europe, and transatlantic
relations from the Marshall Plan to the late
1950s
Student presentation
Discussion of weekly topic
& weekly reading
DEADLINE:
Book
review on
Sept. 3
Question for Presentation:
“Assess the main problems, and the
attempted solutions, in transatlantic relations
from the late 1940s to the mid to late 1950s.
What was at the heart of these problems?”
Required Reading:
Book:
Alan Milward, The European Rescue of the
Nation State (Routledge, 1992)
Or
Alan Miilward, The Reconstruction of
Western Europea, 1945-1951 (Methuen,
1984)
Or
Michael Hogan, The Marshall Plan: America,
Britain and the Reconstruction of Western
Europea, 1947-1952 (Cambridge UP, 1987).
Articles/Chapters:
In addition: select and read two relevant
articles/chapters of your choice.
Sept. 9:
talk by
John Judis
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WEEK 4
Sept. 10
Transatlantic Relations:
The BASICS - TWO
Transatlantic Relations from the late
1950s to the late 1970s
Question for Presentation:
“Assess the increasing importance of
transatlantic economic and monetary
relations since the 1960s. How relevant and
constructive were the attempted solutions?”
Required Reading:
Book:
Barry J Eichengreen, Globalizing Capital: A
History of the International Monetary System
(Princeton UP, 1996)
OR
Barry J. Eichengreen, The European
Economy since 1945: coordinated capitalism
and beyond (Princeton UP, 2007)
OR
Robert Solomon, The International Monetary
System, 1945-1981, updated ed. (Harper &
Row, 1982)
Articles/Chapters:
In addition: select and read two relevant
articles/chapters of your choice.
Student presentation
Discussion of weekly topic
& weekly reading
14
WEEK 5
SESSION WITH GUEST PRESENTER:
Sept. 17
The Great Recesion & After: the U.S., the
Euro Crisis & the Global Economic and
Financial Crisis, 2007/08 to the present
(date to be
confirmed)
Question for Presentation:
What caused the Great Recession and the
Euro crisis and what should be done to avoid
a repetition of the crisis?
Reading:
Book (select one):
Michael Lewis, The Big Short: Inside the
Doomsday Machine (Norten, 2010)
Carmen Reinhard and Kenneth Rogoff, This
Time is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial
Folly (Princeton UP, 2011)
Joseph Stiglitz, Free Fall: America, Free
Markets, and the Sinking of the World
Economy (Norton, 2010)
Andrew Ross Sorkin, Too Big Too Fail: Inside
the Battle to Save Wall Street (2010)
Justin Fox, The Myth of the Rational Market
(2010)
John Lanchester, IOU: Why Everyone Owes
Everyone and No One Can Pay (2010)
Paul Mason, Meltdown: The End of the Age
of Greed (2009)
Robert Skildelsky, Keynes: The Return of the
Master (2011)
Articles/Chapters:
In addition: select and read two relevant
articles/chapters of your choice.
Guest speaker:
Dr Antonio de Lecea
(minister & principal advisor
for economic and financial
affairs, EU Delegation,
Washington, DC)
Discussion of weekly topic
& weekly reading
15
WEEK 6
Transatlantic Relations:
The Basics - THREE
Sept. 24
Transatlantic Relations from the 1980s to
the 1990s
Question for Presentation:
-- “Assess the role of the U.S. and discuss
the contributions of Britain, France and the
Soviet Union for the end of the Cold War and
German Unification. Who won the Cold War
and who or what brought its end about?
-- “How important was the Maastricht Treaty
for transatlantic relations in the 1990s and
after?”
Required Reading:
Book:
Philip Zelikow and Condoleezza Rice,
Germany Unified and Europe Transformed: a
study in statecraft (Harvard UP, 1994)
Articles/Chapters:
In addition: select and read two relevant
articles/chapters of your choice.
Sept. 25:
Student presentations
Discussion of weekly topic
& weekly reading
Talk by Prof.
Sarah
Snyder
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WEEK 7
CASE STUDY 1:
October 1
Present at the Creation: the Schuman
Plan, NATO & the Origins of the Cold War
DEADLINE:
Essay 1 on
Oct. 1
Questions for Presentations:
October 7:
Were the Schuman Plan and NATO as
successful for western cohesion and
political/military development as is always
claimed?
Discuss the importance of the Schuman Plan
for the development of the EEC in 1957/58.
Reading:
Books:
Edmund Dell, The Schuman Plan and the
British Abdication of the Leadership of
Europe (OUP, 1995).
or
Lawrence S. Kaplan, NATO and the United
States: the enduring alliance (Twayne, 1994).
Articles/Chapters:
In addition: select and read two relevant
articles/chapters of your choice.
talk by Prof
Randall
Woods
17
WEEK 8
CASER STUDY 2:
October 8
The 1970s and its Legacy:
the Nixon Administration, the End of
Bretton Woods, and the Economic &
Political Conflicts of the 1970s
Questions for Presentation:
“Did something fundamentally change in
transatlantic relations in the 1970s? What
have been the lasting consequences?
Reading:
Book (select one):
Robert Leeson, Ideology and the
International Economy: The Decline and Fall
of Bretton Woods (Palgrave, 2003)
OR:
Allen J. Matusow, Nixon’s Economy: Busts,
Dollars, and Votes (Univ Press of Kansas,
1998)
OR:
Erich Helleiner, States and the Reemergence
of Global Finance: From Bretton Woods to
the 1990s (Cornell UP, 1994)
OR:
Luke A Nichter, Richard Nixon and Europe:
Confrontation and Cooperation, 1969-1974
(Ph.D. thesis, Bowling Green State Univ.,
2008) -- available online:
http://etd.ohiolink.edu/sendpdf.cgi/Nichter%20Luke%20A.pdf?bgsu1213
987283
Student Presentation
Discussion of weekly topic
& weekly reading
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Also select and read two relevant
articles/chapters of your choice on
transatlantic political and security
relations in the 1970s
It might also be interesting to look at Henry
Kissinger’s memoirs (White House Years)
and at Kissinger’s book Diplomacy.
WEEK 9
FALL BREAK
No class
October 15
WEEK 10
Independent Study & Research & Writing
of second long essay
October 22
Topic for Research and Reading material
to be announced
Oct. 28:
Lecture by
Prof.
Gerhard
Weinberg
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WEEK 11
CASE STUDY 3:
October 29
NATO – from the 1960s to the Present:
Does NATO still have a purpose?
Nov. 4:
Talk by Dr.
Robert
Litwak
Questions for Presentation:
- The case FOR NATO’s continued
existence.
- The case AGAINST NATO’s continued
existence.
Reading:
Select one recent book on NATO (browse
the Davis Library)
(please check and confirm the book with me)
and also select and read two relevant
articles/chapters of your choice on NATO.
WEEK 12
CASE STUDY 4:
November 5
The End of the Division of Europe, the
Maastricht Treaty & the Euro
Questions for Presentations:
Why is the Maastricht Treaty regarded as so
important? Discuss the development of EU
foreign policy and of ESDP since Maastricht.
Required Reading:
Book:
Select one book of your choice
(please check and confirm the book with me)
The book needs to focus on ESDP.
Student presentation
Discussion of weekly topic
and weekly reading
DEADLINE:
Essasy 2
on Nov. 5
20
Articles/Chapters:
In addition: select and read two relevant
articles/chapters of your choice.
This session on November 5 may be
replaced with the following
(if this guest speaker has the time to
come to Chapel Hill while attending the
UN General Assembly in New York)
Ambassador Margit Hellwig-Boette
(Director, United Nations department,
German Foreign Ministry, Berlin)
Transatlantic Relations, Human Rights
and “R2P” – the ‘Responsibility to
Protect’
WEEK 13
Session with Guest speaker
November 12
Transatlantic Relations & the Middle East:
Iraq, Syria, Egypt, Iran & Beyond
Reading:
Books (select one):
Kenneth M Pollack et al, The Arab
Awakening: America and the Transformation
of the Middle East (Brookings, 2011)
OR:
Wendy Chamberlin, The Arab Awakening:
Three Perspectives (2011, kindle ed. $0.99)
OR:
Guest speaker:
Ambassador David Litt
(ret.)
(former US ambassador to
the United Arab Emirates)
Discussion of weekly topic
& weekly reading
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Philip Gordon and Jeremy Shapiro, Allies at
War; America, Europe and the Crisis over
Iraq (Brookings, 2004).
OR:
Lloyd Gardner, The Road to Tahrir Square:
Egypt and the U.S. from the rise of Nasser to
the fall of Mubarak (New Press, 2011).
OR:
Lloyd Gardner, Three Kings: the rise of an
American empire in the Middle East after
World War II (New Press, 2009).
OR: select a book of your choice (but check
with me)
Articles/Chapters:
In addition: select and read two relevant
articles/chapters of your choice.
\
WEEK 14
Session with Guest Speaker:
November 17
The US and the EU at Geopolitical
Loggerheads: relations with Russia,
Ukraine and the espionage scandals of
the recent past.
Guest speaker:
Nov. 20:
Dr Peter Eltsov (National
Defense University,
Washington, DC)
lecture by
H.W.
Brands
To be confirmed
Reading:
Select a biography of Putin
Also see the articles by Eltsov and Larres on
Russia/Ukraine:
www.klauslarres.blogspot.com (on left)
Articles/Chapters:
Select and read two additional articles of
Discussion of weekly topic
& weekly reading
22
your choice. Also pay attention to the
daily and weekly press.
THANKSGIVING
No class
WEEK 16
FINAL Class:
Social Outing??
December 3
return of the second essay & final class
discussion
WEEK 15
November 26
DEADLINE:
Research
paper on
Dec. 3.