About the lecture

In this module, we think about the creation of the institutional roots of the European Union in the aftermath of the Second World War. In particular, we focus on the confluence of three factors which created a window of opportunity for European integration: (i) a political impetus to bring European states into co-operation and create a lasting peace after the horrors of war and genocide; (ii) an economic impetus to repair infrastructure and re-forge European trade networks; and (iii) the international context of the Cold War and particularly the desire of the United States to bolster European capitalist powers and prevent the spread of communism.

About the lecturer

Dr Simon Usherwood is Reader in Politics at the University of Surrey. He has been researching euroscepticism since the late 1990s. His work considers broad theoretical and practical questions about this phenomenon, as well as more specific work on the UK, on UK-EU relations, on the role of pressure groups and on the media profile of eurosceptics.