The articles by Ronald Asmus and Daniel Hamilton in the spring issue of European Affairs are important and timely contributions to the debate on improving Transatlantic relations. Both articles stress the fact that recent diplomacy on both sides of the Atlantic helped create the present rift and that new forms of Transatlantic cooperation need to be developed to craft an Atlantic partnership for the 21st century.
It is of critical importance that the United States and Europe move beyond their recent differences in order to accomplish goals both partners seek, such as rebuilding Iraq and Afghanistan, fighting the war on terror, and maintaining global prosperity and stability. The future of the international system will be shaped in significant part by how American and European leaders respond to calls to improve their relations.
Mr. Hamilton provides a useful corrective to the conventional wisdom that the United States and Europe are drifting apart because they hold different values. As he points out, their societies are actually colliding with each other because of globalization. They continue to share most of the same values but, as Mr. Hamilton notes, disagree on what to do when their values conflict with each other. Evidence to support these ideas is provided in recent public opinion studies.
Mr. Asmus is right that repairing the rift will be very hard work given recent Transatlantic tensions. Most observers believe that U.S.-European relations reached their lowest point since the end of World War II over the Iraq war. In addition, intra-European tensions regarding Iraq essentially paralyzed European foreign policy.
Fortunately, Europe seems to have learnt the right lessons from the breakdown in Transatlantic and intra-European relations. The recently unveiled European security strategy and the emerging EU policy on preventing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction are signs that Europe takes the security threats of the new century seriously. However, these are only first steps and a great deal still needs to be done.
Europeans recognize that they need to speak with one voice in order to have influence with the United States and other countries. They also, on the whole, realize that it would be counterproductive to develop their identity in opposition to the United States. As many have noted, the Iraq war highlighted contrasting European approaches to dealing with America. According to Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform in London, the French are too quick to oppose the United States, while the British have a tendency to support the United States unconditionally. The French and British approaches to U.S. power should therefore be reconciled if Europe is to develop an effective common foreign policy.
On the American side of the equation, the United States should welcome rather than fear European integration, including the ability to act autonomously when necessary. The United States should also avoid approaches that seek to divide the European Union since a divided and weak Europe would not be a useful partner for the United States. It would also be helpful if Americans gave Europeans more credit for what they are already doing to maintain the peace all over the world by deploying peacekeeping forces in Iraq, Afghanistan, the Balkans, Africa, and possibly soon in the Former Soviet Union.
The so-called "good old days" of Transatlantic relations will never be recreated and perhaps never really existed. It is time for the United States and Europe to develop a mature partnership that serves their own interests and seeks to make the world a better place.
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