The great vogue of Eurocommunism came to an end with the return of the French and Italian Communist Parties to positions of opposition to authority in the late 1970's, and the electoral confirmation that Spain's Communist Party would remain small. As the vogue of communism with a human face passed. The question of American policy toward Communists became far less pressing; yet the question will almost certainly require attention in the future. This is particularly true with respect to the Italian Communist Party, which remains powerful in numbers and flexible in policy. Michael Ledeen examines Communist Party participation in Western European governments since World War II, and the ambivalent American foreign policy toward it. He concentrates on the Italian Communist Party: its history and its relations with the Soviet Union. Togliatti, Secchia, Gramsci, Nenni are identified as the major players in Italian communist and socialist politics. The author explores in depth why the United States has been reluctant to become involved in internal Italian affairs, and how this policy posture has strongly influenced in the development of communism in Western Europe. Ledeen shows that the strategies of contemporary West European Communist Parties are now roughly similar to those of the immediate post-war period. He argues that American intellectuals are as uncritical of Eurocommunism as they were after the first flush of Allied victory in World War II, that the Carter administration's foreign policy was incoherent, and that the United States needs a consistent, ideological approach to communism--one that includes the capacity for action as well as reaction. Michael Ledeen is a senior associate of the Center for Strategic and International Studies at Georgetown University, and formerly taught history at Washington University. He was the founding editor of The Washington Quarterly, and is the author of, among other works, Grave New World; The First Duce: D'Annunzio at Fiume; and editor of U.S. Defense and Foreign Policy.

A blueprint of the current forces driving US foreign policy, addressing the status of the major corporation in international affairs, the balance between Atlantic and Pacific interests, and the role of the UN in setting and mediating those interests. The author looks beyond traditional subjects such as diplomacy and military power to examine the role that migration, tourism, and the media play in modern intergovernmental relations. He argues that public opinion is a significant factor in, and not just a reaction to, foreign policy. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

The Americans and Europeans continue to have a unique relationship. But what is the basis for this special affinity? The two essays in Europe and America: A Return to History probe the transatlantic past for answers and seek to draw lessons and guidance for the future. Miles Kahler begins by questioning the prevailing narrative of transatlantic relations. He casts doubt on the widely accepted notion that the strength and durability of U.S.-European relations rest solely on a common fear of external threat. By examining periods prior to the onset of the Cold War, Kahler underscores the deep economic, ideological, and cultural roots of the transatlantic partnership and their continued importance for the future. Werner Link makes a chronological examination of the blueprints that have shaped U.S.-European relations over the past century. By thinking through how politics and geopolitics have interacted to produce many different versions of a recurring puzzle, Link offers a useful catalogue of competing paradigms for thinking about the future.

The postwar period is no longer current affairs but is becoming the recent past. As such, it is increasingly attracting the attentions of historians. Whilst the Cold War has long been a mainstay of political science and contemporary history, recent research approaches postwar Europe in many different ways, all of which are represented in the 35 chapters of this book. As well as diplomatic, political, institutional, economic, and social history, the The Oxford Handbook of Postwar European History contains chapters which approach the past through the lenses of gender, espionage, art and architecture, technology, agriculture, heritage, postcolonialism, memory, and generational change, and shows how the history of postwar Europe can be enriched by looking to disciplines such as anthropology and philosophy. The Handbook covers all of Europe, with a notable focus on Eastern Europe. Including subjects as diverse as the meaning of 'Europe' and European identity, southern Europe after dictatorship, the cultural meanings of the bomb, the 1968 student uprisings, immigration, Americanization, welfare, leisure, decolonization, the Wars of Yugoslav Succession, and coming to terms with the Nazi past, the thirty five essays in this Handbook offer an unparalleled coverage of postwar European history that offers far more than the standard Cold War framework. Readers will find self-contained, state-of-the-art analyses of major subjects, each written by acknowledged experts, as well as stimulating and novel approaches to newer topics. Combining empirical rigour and adventurous conceptual analysis, this Handbook offers in one substantial volume a guide to the numerous ways in which historians are now rewriting the history of postwar Europe.