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A Thorn in Transatlantic RelationsIntroduction

A Thorn in Transatlantic Relations: Introduction [Despite more than a half century of constructing a democratic community in the transatlantic area, strong differences between the United States and its European allies exist in defining, interpreting, and responding to threats in the international system. Most Americans perceive threats in the world through very different lens than do many in the European Union (EU). For most Americans, existential threats exist because evil continues to lurk in the world. The EU security model that evolved over the last three decades largely ceased to address existential threats because the old belief in fundamental evil no longer obtained. For Americans, going to war for the just cause of combating evil remains an ever-present option. For Europeans in the EU, just war has been increasingly defined in much more restrictive contexts. Americans generally believe that their nation has played, and continues to play, a special historic and providential role in bringing light to a world darkened by evildoers. EU Europeans generally believe that if they have a special role to play in the world, it is through the spread of cosmopolitanism. When threatened, the United States often responds with mighty force. When faced with similar challenges, the EU tends to respond in a more guarded manner. Each perspective stereotypes the other at times. Americans have complained about “Euro-wimps”; Europeans have criticized the American “cowboy” approach to the world.] http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png

A Thorn in Transatlantic RelationsIntroduction

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Publisher
Palgrave Macmillan US
Copyright
© Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Nature America Inc. 2013
ISBN
978-1-349-46557-6
Pages
1 –21
DOI
10.1057/9781137343277_1
Publisher site
See Chapter on Publisher Site

Abstract

[Despite more than a half century of constructing a democratic community in the transatlantic area, strong differences between the United States and its European allies exist in defining, interpreting, and responding to threats in the international system. Most Americans perceive threats in the world through very different lens than do many in the European Union (EU). For most Americans, existential threats exist because evil continues to lurk in the world. The EU security model that evolved over the last three decades largely ceased to address existential threats because the old belief in fundamental evil no longer obtained. For Americans, going to war for the just cause of combating evil remains an ever-present option. For Europeans in the EU, just war has been increasingly defined in much more restrictive contexts. Americans generally believe that their nation has played, and continues to play, a special historic and providential role in bringing light to a world darkened by evildoers. EU Europeans generally believe that if they have a special role to play in the world, it is through the spread of cosmopolitanism. When threatened, the United States often responds with mighty force. When faced with similar challenges, the EU tends to respond in a more guarded manner. Each perspective stereotypes the other at times. Americans have complained about “Euro-wimps”; Europeans have criticized the American “cowboy” approach to the world.]

Published: Oct 29, 2015

Keywords: European Union; National Identity; Liberal Democracy; North Atlantic Treaty Organization; European Security

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