By 1900, half a century before the process of European unification even began, the United States and Europe were already interdependent as the industrial powerhouses of the world. Because of the United States’ privileged location outside of the Eurasian landmass, it was less affected by security dilemmas than were the continental European countries, but it always had an interest in preventing regional hegemony in Europe by a potentially hostile power. In the 1930s, with the rise of Japan as a military power, American geopolitical interests expanded beyond simply preventing German hegemony in Europe. Preventing domination of East Asia by a potentially hostile power became as important to America as preventing Europe’s domination. Today, with China on the rise, East Asia is likely to become even more important to America than Europe geopolitically.

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