[media-credit name=’Bryan Faust’ align=’alignnone’ width=’648′][/media-credit]Jeremy Shapiro, author of “Allies at War: America, Europe and the Crisis Over Iraq,” spoke to students about the importance of improving the relationship between the United States and Europe Wednesday night at the Pyle Center.

Shapiro centered his speech around how America’s relationship has changed with Europe since the beginning of the war on terrorism and the invasion of Iraq. One of the major causes was America’s growing sense of power, he said.

“An incredible rise in power in the 1990s left America feeling like it could change the world,” said Shapiro, who co-authored his book with Philip Gordon, former director of European affairs on President Clinton’s National Security Council.

Shapiro cited an economic boom and military success in places like Bosnia and Kosovo as reasons for America’s growth in power.

A more recent factor adding to the deterioration of European and U.S. relations include the election of George W. Bush as President in 2000, Shapiro said. Bush increased military spending and brought a more divisive attitude to foreign policy, according to Shapiro.

Bush’s attitude toward foreign policy is that the United States can only reach its goals through U.S.-led movements, and that Europe will ultimately follow along, he added.

Bush’s increased military spending has led the United States to spend more on self-defense than the next consecutive eleven countries combined, Shapiro said. This has led the United States to initiate more objectives worldwide, according to Shapiro.

“If you have the biggest hammer in the world, everything else looks like a nail,” Shapiro said.

Shapiro said the growth in U.S. power has led the United States to feel different, but he agrees they are different from everyone else. Europeans have also been preoccupied with different priorities, which have led to the deterioration of the relationship, Shapiro said.

Shapiro said if the problems are not fixed, there could be an erosion of trust, political rivalry, a loss of willingness to stand alongside each other or even an end to NATO. What comes next in the relationship depends mainly on the outcome of the war in Iraq but even more on America’s role in the world, he said.

“If both sides do not wake up to reality, relations will continue to deteriorate,” Shapiro said.

University of Wisconsin senior Tom Woods said he mostly agreed with Shapiro’s ideas.

“I think he was a little biased towards his opinions on the relationship, but overall he has a good position on foreign policy with Europe,” Woods said. “People have had disagreements, but he made a good case on how we can repair them.”

UW junior Mike Thompson said he agreed with Shapiro on how the United States needs to compromise with Europe in order to improve their relationship.

“The countries really do need to put things behind them and realize the importance of working together,” Thompson said.