ABSTRACT
As we have tried to demonstrate in various contexts, memory serves as an important building block for future transatlantic cooperation, be the respondent the general public or the decision-making elite. At the same time, memory is also used strategically by those who want to weaken or undermine transatlantic ties. The question about the future of transatlantic ties is being asked on both sides of the Atlantic, and as the answer cannot be taken for granted, it is more important than ever to remember and forge a comprehensive transnational historical narrative of transatlantic ties that would inform as well as educate in the present. As we showed, the Global War on Terror created new memories that put strains on transatlantic relations on the normative level. Coupled with the election as president of the United States of Donald Trump – who is not well liked in most European countries, treats Europeans just like any other business partners, and has given widely contradictory signals regarding U.S. membership in NATO and treaties with European and third countries – the danger of a weakening of the transatlantic alliance is very real. A lot will depend on preserving the memory both of shared basic values and of the joint struggles in the past, which should provide guidance also for the present.
