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U.S.-European relations strong

History professor from Norway talks about improved situation since Obama’s election

The director of the Norwegian Nobel Institute told a crowd at the Pyle Center Tuesday the United States and Europe are currently on good terms, but their relationship will see changes in the future.

Geir Lundestad, a professor of history at the University of Oslo in Norway, gave his perspective on the current U.S.-Europe relationship and events in history that have shaped and molded it throughout the years.

Lundestad said for the most part, Europe has been an ally to the U.S.

“If we look at the period from 1945 until almost 2000, we see that there was hardly a year without a major crisis in American-European relations,” Lundestad said.

Lundestad said the events of Sept. 11 and the invasion of Iraq played a role in shaping the current state of US-European relations. He added after Sept. 11, President George W. Bush’s administration assumed the U.S. would lead and Europe would follow.

“Afghanistan was not a major problem because everyone understood that after Sept. 11, something had to be done,” Lundestad said. “The invasion of Iraq became a major crisis — bigger than any of the other crises that had come up in American and European relations.”

Lundestad said the majority of European citizens were against the invasion in Iraq and many became skeptical of Bush.

He also added the election of President Barack Obama helped strengthen the U.S.-Europe relationship.

“He’s a huge hero. He’s being celebrated all over Europe,” Lundestad said. “All anti-American notions that had become stronger because of George W. Bush had been killed almost overnight with the election of Barack Obama. Everyone thought that it was impossible in America, that racist country, to have a black president.”

The crowd was composed of a mix of undergraduates, faculty, lawyers, financial advisors, high school students and members of the Dane County Norwegian community.

Honorary British Council Representative Michael Bright, who attended the event, said as international as the University of Wisconsin is, he believes it could do a better job of understanding other cultures.

Bright asked a question during the presentation about the European Union’s system of governance and the EU coming together as a market.

“It’s not the United States of Europe; they’re working to find economic, social and political links,” Bright said. “We’re entering a good time where the EU has done a magnificent job of creating a new massive economy, probably the largest that will be created in our lifetime. It’s fascinating.”

This was Lundestad’s first visit to the UW, and he was happy to speak at such a prestigious institution of history.

“It’s well known among historians all over the world that the history department here at the University of Wisconsin is one of the best in the world and has been for a very long time. I hope the students here appreciate that,” Lundestad said. “Wisconsin’s history department is right up there with Yale, Harvard and Stanford.”