In the late 1960s the wider framework for and the basic
structure of the North Atlantic alliance was being challenged on
virtually all fronts at the same time, causing the need for a
reappraisal of relationships. In the Cold War with the Soviet
Union and its allies, the confrontation continued, but now it
was being combined with détente, i.e. cooperation on important
military, political, and economic issues. In the American-
European relationship, it was obvious that Europe was striking
out more on its own. Not only France, but even loyal West
Germany was developing its own policy, particularly toward the
Soviet Union and Eastern Europe in the form of its Ostpolitik.
Western Europe had also come to count for more than it had in
the early years of NATO. With British membership in the European
Community, the EC was beginning to rival the United States in
importance, at least economically. In Southern Europe a
democratic revolution was taking place. On the other side of the
Atlantic, even the Nixon administration