Sources of Tension Between Western Europe and the United States

Abstract

The Atlantic Alliance has undergone a transformation which shows its enduring strength, its limits, and the stresses with which it must continuously cope. Its strength lies in the community of interests between the United States and the nations of Western Europe. Its limits are circumscribed by the limita tions of these interests to the defense of Western Europe. The stresses to which it is subject result from changes in the technology of warfare and in the over-all distribution of power, the "new look" of Soviet foreign policy, organizational deficiencies, divergence of policies and personalities. The rock of common in terests upon which the Atlantic Alliance is built remains intact, but its surface is rougher than it used to be and the structure built upon it is in need of repair.