ABSTRACT
Despite widespread predictions on both sides of the Atlantic that the United States and Europe are bound to experience a widening political, economic, social, and even cultural rift, no such rupture is likely to occur. To be sure, any number of disagreements exist, some typical of disputes that arose during the Cold War, while others are of more recent vintage. Nonetheless, four underlying realities are likely to preclude a fundamental divorce. First, there are shared threats. Radical Islamism, terrorism, and weapons of mass destruction pose a long-term danger to all Western societies, and there is no separate peace to be had. Europe needs the US as an ally and as insurance against future threats. NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) enlargement, as well as the extensive cooperation in intelligence and security that has taken place since the 11 September 2001 attack on the US, are evidence of this. Second, despite being competitors, the EU and the US share fundamental interests. These include not only the maintenance of an international economic order in which each is the largest investor and trade partner of the other, but also a shared interest in the stability of the international system and its institutions. Third the cumbersome structure of the 27-member EU, the absence of true sovereign unity, and policy and structural differences among its members diminish the power and military potential that Europe’s size, population, and wealth would otherwise provide. Fourth despite real differences, Europe and America share the values of the enlightenment and of Western liberal democracy, including liberty, the rule of law, freedom of speech, religious tolerance, and the rights of women and minorities. As a result, and despite the sometimes bitter controversies of recent years, the transatlantic relationship remains robust.
