After being a battleground for two world wars, Europe’s appetite for warfare declined while America’s willingness to employ force continued. Stanford humanities professor James J. Sheehan lucidly explores the tectonic shift that moved European nations from garrison states to consumer societies, which he rightly attributes to a profound revulsion following World War II. From 1945 on, most Europeans wanted to get on with civilian life.

Examining the European Union’s diffident response to the Yugoslav crisis and other conflicts since the Cold War, Sheehan forecasts that the EU will not become a superpower because of divisions among member states and the general European distaste for the destructive force of military action.