From 26 to 28 August 2026, the Roosevelt Institute for American Studies hosted the workshop “Diplomatic History at Fifty: European Perspectives on America’s Global Rise and Crises.” Organized by Gaetano Di Tommaso and Dario Fazzi in collaboration with Diplomatic History co-editors Anne Foster and Petra Goedde, the workshop formed part of the journal’s fiftieth-anniversary program and the development of a special issue to be published in 2027. It brought together eight scholars to consider what European sources, actors, and interpretive frameworks can contribute to the study of the United States in the world.
The program opened with the 2026 RIAS Environmental History Lecture. Simone Schleper (Maastricht University) delivered “Global Environmental Governance from Elsewhere,” examining some of the less visible places, practices, and actors that have shaped international environmental policymaking.
The first workshop session, “European Perspectives on US Liberal Internationalism,” featured Alessandro Brogi (University of Arkansas), who considered Europe, US hegemony, and the contradictions of liberal internationalism, and Eline van Ommen (University of Leeds), whose contribution addressed transatlantic relations and the Central American insurgencies of the early 1980s.
The second session, “Transatlantic Circuitries & Circulations,” extended the workshop’s chronological and thematic range. Marc-William Palen (University of Exeter) explored the connections between European free-trade ideologies and US anti-imperial and peace activism between 1776 and 1919. Debby Esmeé de Vlugt (Radboud University) examined European solidarity with the Black Panther Party, while Maarten Zwiers (University of Groningen) considered US cultural diplomacy and regional identity formation in the Dutch North.
The final session, “Negotiating US Hegemony,” brought together three studies of European engagements with American power. Lisa Dudek (King’s College London) focused on the 1964 backchannel negotiations between West Germany and the People’s Republic of China, with particular attention to Bonn’s relations with Washington. Kai Hebel (Leiden University) examined European diplomatic practice and American hegemony during the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe, while Alice Zamai (European University Institute) explored the role of the EEC Commission in US financial deregulation between 1988 and 1990.
Across the sessions, discussion returned to the questions at the heart of the workshop: how European actors participated in shaping, negotiating, and contesting American power; how transatlantic exchanges complicate conventional narratives of US ascendancy; and how European perspectives can contribute to a more decentered history of US global relations.
The workshop offered participants an opportunity to receive feedback and further develop their contributions for the planned special issue. The RIAS thanks all speakers and participants for two days of productive discussion and the Province of Zeeland for its support.
The complete workshop program can be downloaded here.
