Transatlantic Turbulence
A New Lecture Series
Click here for conference poster.
Since shortly after September 11, America's European allies have
become increasingly bold and vocal in their objections to US foreign
policy. Intermittent disputes have always roiled
the waters, with storms over bananas to beef, with disappointments
over Kyoto and land mines, and differences over missile defense and
arms control. But recently, the looming war with
Iraq, the West's changing relations with Russia, the Israeli-Palestinian
struggle, the avowed views of the Bush Administration on the "axis of evil," "regime change" and preemption, have
led to growing transatlantic turbulence. Officials on both sides of the Atlantic have
resorted to name-calling, as high-level White House aids have referred to US allies as
"eurowimps," and Chris Patten, Europe's commissioner for external affairs, characterized the
Bush Administration's foreign policy positions as "simplistic." Diverging perceptions on the
use of force, the utility of multilateralism, and the meaning of terrorism are underpinned by
a growing continental divide in military capability. NATO Secretary-General Lord George
Robertson stated this central issue succinctly: "Mighty Europe remains a military pygmy."
And growing power inequalities prompted Robert Kagen, in a widely cited article in Policy
Review, to proclaim that "Americans are from Mars and Europeans
are from Venus."
Watch the
IES Calendar section for upcoming lecture announcements throughout
the Spring semester.
