October 13, 2011
From Magna Carta to Atlantic Charter: The Constitutional Foundations of the Special Relationship
By Lord Beloff
Atlantic Charter Lecture
The purpose of this series of lectures is to explore the relations between the United States of America and the continent of Europe including its offshore islands of which its own civilization is to a large extent an offshoot. It must be regarded as a timely one since the intimacy of the transatlantic relationship is at one of its low points. It is not that Europe rejects America or American influence – indeed anti-Americanism so prominent in some political and intellectual quarters a generation ago is now in decline. And this development must owe something to the ending of what we call the “Cold War”. But the relaxation of international tensions has had the opposite effect in the United States. There seems general agreement that Europe attracts much less American attention than was formerly the case, whether we judge it by the lack of interest in its fortunes displayed in the media or by declining concern with European history at all levels in the educational process, or the indifference of American youth to the chances of securing a direct acquaintance with countries from which their families originally came.
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From Magna Carta to Atlantic Charter
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