AMERICA, the daughter of Europe," is the way Charles de Gaulle sometimes likes to refer to the U.S. Historically, the metaphor is accurate enough, and Americans happily acknowledge their European inheritance of culture and law, myth and memory. Yet in recent decades, the filial relationship has been reversed. As happens in individual families, too, the offspring has taken over the role of parent. After World War II, it was America that gave Europe food, shelter, the sheer hope of survival. Through patterns of aid and alliance, the U.S. also tried to help banish...
To continue reading:
or
Log-In
