Transatlantic relations have always
attracted wide interest because of their
centrality to questions of world order.
But since the September 11 terrorist attacks
on the United States and the run up
to the Iraq war, they have received
much more attention than usual. In
large part this is because, although Europeans
and Americans briefly came together
after September 11, the war on
terror has since widened the gulf in policy
and perceptions between the United
States and Europe.
It is also because the Atlantic alliance
came closer than ever to breaking up
over the Iraq war. Much of the treatment
of these issues in the press and especially
in the broadcast media has, however,
probably exacerbated the troubled state
of Transatlantic relations by focusing excessively
on areas of disagreement.
Those looking for a more balanced
discussion of why the post-September 11
harmony was so short-lived, and why the
alliance almost self-destructed over Iraq,
would do well to read these two new
books on the subject, both by experienced
writers on Transatlantic relations.
One, "An Alliance at Risk," is by a European
expert on the United States, the
other, "Friendly Fire," is by an American
expert on Europe.
Laurent Cohen-Tanugi is a French
lawyer who writes about international
affairs for the newspaper Le Monde and
is the author of books on French and
American legal traditions and other topics.
Elizabeth Pond is a former European
correspondent of the Christian Science
Monitor, currently based in Germany,
where she edits the foreign policy journal,
Transatlantic Internationale Politik.
She has written a number of books on
Germany, Russia and Europe.
The two authors have quite a lot in
common. Both are committed Euro-
Atlanticists who believe Europe should
have an international role more commensurate
with its economic clout, and
that the Atlantic Alliance can and should
be sustained through enlightened political
leadership. Both see the Alliance as
still rooted in shared values (particularly
democracy, free markets, civil society and
the rule of law) an important point
rarely mentioned during recent debates.
In addition, both see the roots of
today's troubled Transatlantic relations
in trends that have emerged in the post-
Cold War period. They point out, for example,
that while the United States and
Europe will continue to be each other's
most important global partners for the
foreseeable future, Europe is no longer
the center of world politics as it was during
the Cold War. As a result, Europe is
less central to American foreign policy.
Both writers consider European integration
to be a positive development
that Americans should support, provided
that Europeans do not define their
identity in opposition to the United
States. Both authors stress that Europe
should be a partner of the United States,
not a counterweight to it. They also
agree that leaders on both sides of the
Atlantic have contributed to the recent
deterioration in relations and suggest essentially
the same prescription. This can
be described as a Europe that takes
greater responsibility for its security and
an America that works harder at listening
to others and taking their views into
account. The two authors also stress that
recent events have created new realities
in the relationship and that, after the discord
over terrorism and Iraq, there can
be no return to the relative harmony of
the Cold War era.
Cohen-Tanugi and Pond mostly
cover the same themes, especially September
11 and the Iraq war, the war in
Afghanistan and the war against terror.
Both also deal at length with European
reactions to America's status as the
world's only superpower and the Bush
administration's doctrine of preemption;
U.S. policy towards European integration
and whether, instead of supporting
it as it has in the past, America now seeks
to divide Europe internally; and Europe's
drive to become a more influential world
power. Both also examine anti-American
attitudes in Europe and anti-European
views in the United States.
There are, however, some differences.
Cohen-Tanugi's book is analytical
and prescriptive and focuses on the past,
present and future of Transatlantic relations,
whereas Pond's book is primarily
descriptive and analytical and deals
mostly with the recent past.
Both authors make numerous references
to the influential ideas of American
neo-conservative foreign policy
analyst Robert Kagan, who argues that
American and European attitudes toward
key international issues, such as the
role of force, have continued to widen in
recent years, making foreign policy differences
more frequent. He maintains
that because America has so much
power, it has a propensity to use that
power, whereas, because Europeans have
so little power, they tend to put greater
faith in international law and multilateral
organizations. Cohen-Tanugi regards
Kagan's analysis as somewhat
over-simplified, but otherwise appears to
accept much of his argument. Pond in
contrast discusses in greater depth the
numerous critiques and criticisms of
Kagan's work.
Cohen-Tanugi provides a solid overview
of key developments in Transatlantic
and European affairs since the end
of World War II and argues passionately in
favor of Euro-Atlanticism. In a plea for
greater mutual understanding between
Europe and America, he suggests a number
of steps such as the institutionalization
of "regular political and strategic coordination"
between the allies. Some readers,
however, may not be persuaded by his essentially optimistic perspective and may
feel that he underestimates the difficulties
of achieving his proposed reconciliation
of Europeanism and Atlanticism.
Pond is less concerned with advocating
a particular course of action (other
than working toward improved trust and
understanding) than with establishing a
shared narrative of recent events. She believes
the two sides should try harder to
agree on precisely how and why the recent
polemical arguments and heated
rhetoric erupted.Her review of the American-
French-German diplomacy that preceded
the Iraq war is a good example of
her contribution toward those objectives.
She provides effective summaries of recent
Transatlantic debates, but given the
author's extensive experience of the subject,
it would be interesting to know more
about where she stands.
Both authors argue that Europeans
underestimated the extent to which September
11 fundamentally transformed
America and U.S. foreign policy. In addition,
they say, the Transatlantic relationship
will continue to be influenced
by the fact that Europeans, like many
Americans but unlike the Bush administration,
do not see the Iraq war as part of
the war on terrorism. Europe has played
a significant role in the fight against terror,
but Europeans do not feel they are
"at war" with the terrorists.
Europe has also so far made fewer
changes in its approach to homeland security
than the United States and has
largely delayed implementation of increased
judicial and intelligence cooperation.
In the aftermath of the March 11
terrorist attack on Spain, Europe is bolstering
its anti-terror strategy a move
that Washington should welcome, and
that should over time improve the state
of the relationship.
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