{{Primary sources, date=July 2008
Atlantic Union was the most common name for the proposal, originally advanced by journalist
Clarence Streit
Clarence Kirschman Streit (; January 21, 1896 – July 6, 1986) was an American journalist who played a prominent role in the Atlanticist and world federalist movements.Imlay, Talbot (2020)Streit, Federalist Frameworks, and Wartime American Inte ...
in 1939, to unite the world's leading democratic nations into a
federal union
A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a political union, union of partially Federated state, self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central #Federal governments, federal gover ...
, in much the way the thirteen states united in 1789 under the
U.S. Constitution
The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven articles, it delineates the natio ...
U.S. Congress
The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is Bicameralism, bicameral, composed of a lower body, the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives, and an upper body, ...
, by Rep.
Paul Findley
Paul Augustus Findley (June 23, 1921 – August 9, 2019) was an American writer and politician. He served as United States Representative from Illinois, representing its 20th District. A Republican, he was first elected in 1960. A moderate Rep ...
Morris Udall
Morris King "Mo" Udall (June 15, 1922 – December 12, 1998) was an American attorney and Democratic politician who served as a U.S. representative from Arizona from May 2, 1961, to May 4, 1991. He was a leading contender for the 1976 Democr ...
as the lead co-sponsors, to call an "Atlantic Convention" which its proponents hoped would draft a constitution to be submitted for ratification to the countries represented. In 1960, the resolution finally passed and the convention was held, but President
Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...
, who was not a supporter of the concept, did not appoint supporters of federation as the U.S. delegates, so nothing came of the convention except a broadly-worded resolution calling for "greater cooperation".
The idea of Atlantic Union had its origin in the fertile brain of an Englishman named
Cecil Rhodes
Cecil John Rhodes (5 July 1853 – 26 March 1902) was a British mining magnate and politician in southern Africa who served as Prime Minister of the Cape Colony from 1890 to 1896.
An ardent believer in British imperialism, Rhodes and his Br ...
. To this end he established the Rhodes Foundation, providing for the education in England of bright young Americans.
In 1939, a
Rhodes Scholar
The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom.
Established in 1902, it is the oldest graduate scholarship in the world. It is considered among the world' ...
named Clarence Streit wrote a book called '' Union Now'', which advocated a gradual approach to final world union by way of regional unions, starting with the union between the US and Britain. Committees were set up all over America, and Mr. Streit reported that over two million Americans had signed petitions asking for union with Britain.
In Streit's own words, the Atlantic Union, now expanded to include Western Europe, was the first step towards total world government: "It '' nion Now' proclaimed the need of world government and insisted that no country needed this more urgently than the United States." Streit, who has been a close associate of Communists and socialists all his adult life, had no hostility towards collectivism. He said in ''Union Now'': "Democracy not only allows mankind to choose freely between capitalism and collectivism, but it includes Marxist governments." In his pamphlets Streit asks the question: "Does the rise of socialism in some Western European democracies prevent our federating with them?" He answers with an emphatic "No!"
In March 1949, Federal Union set up a political-action unit called the Atlantic Union Committee. The first president of this Committee was former
Supreme Court justice
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest-ranking judicial body in the United States. Its membership, as set by the Judiciary Act of 1869, consists of the chief justice of the United States and eight Associate Justice of the Supreme ...
Owen J. Roberts
Owen Josephus Roberts (May 2, 1875 – May 17, 1955) was an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court from 1930 to 1945. He also led two Roberts Commissions, the first of which investigated the attack on Pearl Harbor, and the seco ...
, who said he considers national sovereignty a "silly
shibboleth
A shibboleth (; hbo, , šībbōleṯ) is any custom or tradition, usually a choice of phrasing or even a single word, that distinguishes one group of people from another. Shibboleths have been used throughout history in many societies as passwor ...
."
The work for Atlantic Union is being worked towards by the Streit Council.
See also
*
Community of Democracies
The Community of Democracies (C.O.D), established in 2000, is an intergovernmental coalition of states. Its aim is to bring together governments, civil society and the private sector in the pursuit of the common goal of supporting democratic rul ...
*
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
(EU)
*
North American Union
The North American Union (NAU) is a theoretical economic and political continental union of Canada, Mexico and the United States, the three largest and most populous countries in North America. The concept is loosely based on the European Union, o ...
*
North Atlantic Treaty Organization
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...