RSS

The global Obamania hype has reached European soil. Expectations are gigantic. But the fate of the transatlantic relationship does not solely depend on Barack Obama. Its fate will rather be decided by the way Europeans react to and interact with the new US President, as well as to what extent they are willing and able to set an agenda and contribute to its implementation.

The current, rather passive, European approach concerning the future of transatlantic relations is founded on a substantial strategic deficit within most EU member states’ capitals. It limits Europeans to being spectators and passive bystanders instead of being proactive, contributing partners.

Consequently, two things need to change if the EU’s role within the transatlantic partnership is to be saved from marginalization. First, the US needs to give up its reluctance to accept the reality of a multipolar world order. Second, the EU needs to become a credible partner for Washington, capable of dealing with the major tasks of our time. The first step cannot be achieved without the latter. Nevertheless, it is primarily the European Union that holds the key to this development. It can be achieved by convincing the US of the transatlantic partnership’s efficiency within a multipolar system.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s efforts to negotiate a cease fire agreement between Russia and Georgia, Brussels’ decision to launch an observation mission in that area, and the EU’s initiatives concerning the financial crisis have been good steps forward. Europe needs to continue on that road in order to keep up with the pace that was set by the dynamics of political, economic, financial, and social interdependencies.

Military force no longer represents the core element of political power. It rather derives from effectively dealing with the risks and challenges that have snuck into our homes and lives, such as energy security, climate change or the financial crises. Consequently, today’s politics are about developing convincing and efficient structures for defining and implementing solutions to specific tasks. Examples of such include:

1. Creating internationally approved guidelines for a new global financial system that help overcome the current deficits of and the public mistrust in the banking sector. Likewise, they must provide options for future business by supporting the progress of finding answers to shared challenges. This effort has to be founded on the economic reality of today, meaning there must be an acceptance of the continuing shift of economic power toward Asia.
2. Energy security and climate change have to remain top priorities for further political and – even more important – economic dialogue between the United States and Europe. Especially with the financial crisis affecting national budgets and funding plans for research and development, the topic of restoring ecologic stability and safety for our children and grandchildren needs to be preserved as a major priority for political action.
3. Fostering the global non-proliferation regime through a commitment to open dialogue. Against the constant dynamics of political and economic power in a web constituted by many centres of gravity, weapons of mass destruction (WMD) should never become an instrument for securing the dominance of a unipolar system.
4. Developing forums for strategic transatlantic and international dialogue by restructuring and reanimating the G8, NATO, and the United Nations. In particular, with regard to NATO, the transatlantic partners need to develop options beyond the Article 5 Alliance in order to overcome the militarization of transatlantic relations since 9/11. In the case of Georgia, NATO and its limited options for action (membership or no membership) have proven to be more of a problem than a solution in this area of overlapping neighborhoods with Moscow.
5. European Union member states need to show their readiness to take in prisoners released from the Guantanamo Bay detention camp who face the danger of falling victim to persecution and torture in their home countries. If one argues against Guantanamo and calls for the protection of human rights, then one has the obligation to help when there is an opportunity to put an end to the Guantanamo system.

Topics such as Iraq or Afghanistan should be avoided in the beginning because they have poisoned any attempt to reanimate the transatlantic partnership in the past. However, sustainable and measurable progress in the areas mentioned above could provide the common ground and public support needed for touching the sensitive issue of more European commitment in those areas of conflict. We may not always share the same opinions, but we are doomed to co-operate because we are bound to each other. That is the true nature of what Barack Obama called the “community of common destiny” in his speech in Berlin.

Thomas Bauer is a political scientist working in the fields of foreign, security and defense policy, armaments cooperation, and transatlantic relations. He works at the Center for Applied Policy Research at the University of Munich

Related materials from the Atlantic Community:

• Nikolas Kirrill Gvosdev: Improving Transatlantic Relations Requires a Frank Dialogue
• Daniel Korski: Transatlantic Tension Will Remain
• Eckart von Klaeden: Europe Needs a Strong American Partner!