Upon advent of George W. Bush's arrival in 2000 and particularly after
9/11, transatlantic relations began to crumble. The current president decided
to follow a unilateralist foreign policy approach. His decision to ignore the
assistance offers of allies as well as the rejection of a NATO framework has
damaged transatlantic relations. Europe's response, especially Germany's
refusal to participate in attacks on Iraq, contributed to a degrading
partnership. The intensification of the unilateralist US agenda left the EU
with the desire to establish a military planning cell, which acts independently
of NATO, thereby threatening NATO's future.
The hegemonic behavior under president Bush almost led to the end of the
transatlantic partnership. What saved both parties from such a dramatic
development was president Bush's change of mind in his second term. The US not
only realized the need for allies but also the importance of NATO, particularly
in securing Afghanistan. This new perception eased the EU's resentment towards
US unilateralism. The failure of the EU constitution to win popular support
further undermined the intention of building a counterbalance to US dominance.
With the change of leadership in Germany and France, relations with the US
improved as both key countries decided to make NATO the center of their foreign
policy.
To handle the challenges of this century the US and
the EU have to realize that they cannot go it alone internationally. Particularly the US must understand that
although it is the world's superpower, it needs its allies as well as NATO. The
US must seek the political legitimacy and assistance that is provided by
partners and allies who share military and non-military responsibilities. Also
Europe needs NATO as a source of involvement in international security issues.
Only a closely coordinated US-EU-NATO cooperation will set the ground for any
success in attaining shared interests. With a new American president about to
occupy the White House, new strategic concepts should be introduced, ending the
transatlantic relations crisis and opening a new spirit of cooperation. The
bottom line is that preserving cooperation among democratic state with the
transatlantic allies constituting the core - is essential for the future
security and well being of them all. Putting this cooperation at risk will be
dangerous for dealing with future security risks.
This summary was prepared by Sepideh Parsa, editorial intern at atlantic-community.org
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