American-European Alignment: An Assessment of Economic and Security Factors Impacting the Relationship Between the United States and Europe Since WWII

The United States and Europe have had a relationship that has constantly augmented during the past 80 years. The extent of this change has depended on a number of factors including security and economics. This paper seeks to analyze the relationship between the United States and Europe throughout the Cold War, following the Cold War, and in the wake of Russia’s current invasion of Ukraine. It will view the partnership through a security and economic lens and seek to determine how much both factors impact the relationship and in what way each factor has impacted the relationship. It will also examine whether the relationship has changed during each timeframe or if there are different relationships across different issues. Finally, this paper will seek to explain how security concerns and events are more impactful to the alignment between the United States and Europe when compared to economic components