The period of relative peace in Europe since the end of the Second World War has been variously described as the 'Pax Europaea' and the 'Pax Americana'. These descriptions reflect two major theories purporting to account for the relative absence of armed conflict during this period: one emphasising the pacifying impact of the EU, and the other emphasising the pacifying impact of the US/NATO. The present paper attempts to evaluate these theories by comparing the role of the EU and the US/NATO in

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... several domains of armed conflict in Europe. It focuses on the mechanisms through which the two organisations have affected the risk and scale of armed conflict within each domain. Although both the EU and the US/NATO have contributed to the relative peace in Europe since the end of the Second World War, there is at least one domain in which each of the organisations has either exacerbated or failed to prevent armed conflict. Understanding the limitations of the two organisations, as well as their strengths, will be important for bolstering European security as the continent faces new geopolitical challenges.