Atlanticism
|
Atlanticism is a philosophy of cooperation among European and North American nations regarding political, economic, and defense issues.
One example of an Atlanticist would be Tony Blair. Another would be Javier Solana. An Atlanticist organization would be NATO.
In addition, on continental Europe, many Eastern European countries profess a strong Atlanticist view; for example, Poland. This is viewed in many cases as a result of the USA's strong fight against the Soviet empire, and a sign of wariness of Western Europe's stated commitment to the East. This wariness may be borne out of the historical behaviour of the major Western European countries in the first half of the 20th century. Germany had invaded many Eastern European countries in World War II—French and British security guarantees to these countries were quietly forgotten.
Spain's former Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar took a strong Atlanticist stand. After the 11 March 2004 Madrid attacks, however, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero rose to power on the basis of an anti-Atlanticist/anti-US/anti-Iraq war stance. His first act on being elected was to withdraw Spanish troops from their previous deployment in Iraq.