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Will a new tenant in the White House - especially a Democratic one whose credentials seem to promise a clear departure from the current administration's foreign policy - really alter European perceptions of the US?

If the phrase coined by the Truman administration still holds true today and "partisan politics stops at the water's edge", the now often-heard notion of change could be one of form rather than substance for Europe. Would that really be enough to transform the current atmosphere and herald the beginning of a new transatlantic spring?

True, it seems likely that all of the remaining candidates with a realistic chance to obtain the presidency would close down the Guantanamo Bay detention centre, opt for more multilateralism, battle climate change more effectively, favour additional rights for homosexuals, and increase gun control - to name but a few issues that many on the old continent have taken issue with.

Yet none of the contenders can offer the panacea for many of the foreign policy quandaries of our time. Such is the case with Iraq, even if the candidates' respective policies towards troop deployment vary quite dramatically. At the same time, all three contenders are advocating a tough stance against Iran and will push Europe for a greater commitment in these areas, as well as in Afghanistan and many other international security matters.

Merkel, Sarkozy and Brown are all seen as textbook Atlanticists in Washington and will soon feel the strong embrace of the US. The juxtaposition of this European triumvirate, with a new "POTUS" and a Democratic-dominated Congress, could hardly have been dreamt by Americans seeking US-EU rapprochement only a few years ago.

Nonetheless, while the political climate is likely to improve due to the new power-constellation, differences will remain. It is simply a question of how to deal with them. And they will have to be dealt with in light of the challenges ahead.

While there may not be a single overarching, strategic challenge to discern today, tests for the transatlantic alliance come in a bundle that is greater than the sum of its parts. It will take a stupendous effort to overcome these often interlinked, yet mostly anarchic threats in light of the erosion of our common principles, which we seem to be taking increasingly for granted.

So if values such as democracy, the rule of law, pluralism and an independent media don't suffice as uniting forces in themselves, shared threats may just do the trick, whether an unstable, nuclear-armed Pakistan; a volatile Middle East; international terrorism or the wearing down of democratic structures coupled with the rise of authoritarian capitalism. There is plenty to worry about together.

Daniel Rackowski is the senior fellow for EU Affairs at the Transatlantic Institute and a member of the Atlantic Community. A longer version of his article appeared in EUobserver.com, available in its entirety as a PDF: