Exploring the historical roots of integration, they trace contemporary integration efforts back to nineteenth-century social action in response to capitalist development. As today, it was a time when internationalism - both that of workers and capitalists - sustained international cooperation and attempted to define a social dimension to economic development and to set universal standards for welfare. The reemergence of an integrated Europe as an alternative to the system of states produced by the settlements of 1918 and 1945 has provided a new opening for internationalism.

The foundation of the European Union was one of the most important historical events in the second half of the 20th century. In order to fully appreciate the modern state of the EU, it is crucial to understand the history of European integration. This accessible overview differs from other studies in its focus on the major roles played by both the United States and European multinational corporations in the development of the European Union. Chronologically written and drawing on new findings from two major archives (the archives of the US State Department and Archive of European Integration), this book sheds crucial new light on the integration process. The History of European Integration offers a major contribution to our understanding of Europe’s postwar history, and will be essential reading for any student of postwar European History, Contemporary History, European Politics and European Studies.

Including several contributions from an international group of historians and experts of international relations, this book analyses the relationship between the United Nations and European integration. The book, which covers from 1945 to the present, is organised into three sections, each dedicated to a different phase of the integration process, during which EU-UN relations had a different character. The essays of the first section deal with the 1950s and 1960s and show the active part played by UN bodies in shaping the integration process. In the second part, covering the 1970s and 1980s, it is the European Community which is shown to have had a visible impact on the life and the decision-making process of several UN bodies. Finally, the third part of the book, on the post-Cold War years, describes a more complex situation, characterised by new geopolitical responsibilities of the European Union, but also by its deep internal transformations due to several treaty revisions and the enlargement to Eastern Europe. Thus, dynamics similar to those described in the first section return, with UN bodies shaping some of the internal rules of the EU, but these coexist with strengthened European activity in the United Nations, in some cases leading to real partnerships.

The contributors to this volume, all leading specialists in the field of EU studies, examine the trajectory of the EU and draw on the theoretical tools of historical institutionalism to assess the central political challenges facing the EU.

To understand the current difficulties and future prospects of European integration, multiple perspectives are required. The essays in this collection explore historical and geopolitical aspects of European integration and their relevance to interpretations of the current climate. They also examine the different regional dynamics of integration and the attitudes that result from those experiences, including in the European peripheries that are so often overshadowed by the dominant centres. In drawing all of these perspectives together, the collection allows the reader to assess the EU's current crisis in context.

This book aims to broaden readers' understanding of the issues now facing the European Union by explaining the motivation underpinning the process of integration in Western Europe after 1945. The contributors discuss: - the part played by the Federal Republic of Germany; - the role of ideas and political movements in stimulating policy; - the economic interest of West Germany and West German business; and - the strategic aspects of Germany's policy. Also included is a German view of French and British attitudes toward a unified Europe and a discussion of the social history of integration.