"System, power, and European monetary integration"

Henning, C. Randall. (1995) "System, power, and European monetary integration". In European Union Studies Association (EUSA) > Biennial Conference > 1995 (4th), May 11-14, 1995, pages 19, Charleston, South Carolina.

Abstract

[From the Introduction]. Theories of international relations and comparative politics characterize the movement within Western Europe toward monetary integration primarily in regional terms. The global context within which European monetary integration is taking place is viewed in this literature as having little influence or influence which is only episodic, momentary, or ancillary to other, more primary forces. Regional political integration, regional economic interdependence, sectoral interests within European countries, and strategies of national executives and central bankers are instead given primary emphasis. This article argues, by contrast, that the international system has provided strong incentives for and greatly affected European monetary integration. Changes in and unpredictability of international monetary policies of the United States, in particular, have pushed European governments toward regional monetary integration at several critical historical junctures. Indeed, all of the major successes in monetary integration were closely, and causally, associated with transatlantic monetary conflict and the decline or weakness of the international monetary regime.