ABSTRACT
Inspired by Walker’s provocative statement that “Europe is not where it is supposed to be” (2000), we can ask a parallel question: Where is the transatlantic? The memories of Cold War provided a particular political and economic geo-imaginary of Europe and its location in the world. The “transatlantic dialogue” was understood as a post-war Western European and American connection institutionalized through NATO. While for a brief period in the 1990s the triumphant neoliberal agenda replaced security with a political agenda of democratization and an economic agenda of liberalization, today, to the backdrop of collapsing buildings and exploding train stations, a new type of insecurity is forcing us to reconsider the meaning of the transatlantic dialogue. This security-oriented re-imagination has provided room for another, albeit quieter, voice: Canadian–EU cooperation. The authors in this collection are guided by the circuits of practice, the routes of policy formation, the communities of professionals who are creating and institutionalizing this new dialogue. By way of conclusion, we first question what is meant by otherness and transatlanticism, develop a clear map of the causes for these newly intense relationships, and sketch some consequences of the new connections.
