The EU as a Global Actor

The great powers of the nineteenth century were European and exerted global influence mainly through their empires and trading interests. But the toll of two world wars left behind a relatively tame and introspective Europe, and the EEC in its early years was too focused on internal challenges to think much about its global role; western Europe mainly followed the lead of the US, while its eastern states were dominated by the Soviet Union, and a few holdouts tried to remain neutral.