EU - US relations: Articles

Donald Trump's possible return as US president has again raised the spectre of the United States' abandoning its central role in the European security order. Given the profound polarisation and insularity that has arisen in US politics, transatlantic relations might not readily return to the traditional comfort zone even if Joe Biden is re-elected. In Europe, vigorous public discussion has arisen on ramping up defence-industrial capabilities to help Ukraine and to reduce European dependence on the US; on the future of US extended nuclear deterrence; and on France's readiness to give a specifically European dimension to nuclear deterrence. Europe's ability to prepare constructively for a diminished American security role will hinge on the European trend of rising populist-fuelled authoritarianism, and on the customary difficulty France and Germany have in crafting a joint approach to strategic planning.

The last summit between the European Union (EU) and the United States, in June 2021, focused on reaffirming the transatlantic partnership after some difficult years. At the summit in Washington, DC, this Friday, the United States and Europe must address the geopolitical challenges they face in an increasingly hostile and divided world. Transatlantic diplomacy can no longer be solely about the now strengthened partnership itself. Instead, its primary task must be to build joint efforts to ensure a more secure and resilient place for US and European citizens, in keeping with the transatlantic partnership’s democratic values. The 2021 summit faced a relatively peaceful world. At this 2023 summit, the United States and the EU must demonstrate their determination and close coordination in their responses to Hamas’s strike on Israel and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The upcoming US-EU summit shows how de-risking, the Western willingness to respond to China’s rise, and the green transition are reshaping US-EU relations. Three major deliverables are on the table:
- the European Union’s access to some US Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) subsidies,
- a transatlantic agreement on critical raw materials (CRMs),
- discussions on Russia’s frozen foreign-exchange reserves and sanctions evasion.

Europe and the United States are undertaking a fundamental reappraisal of the international trading order, industrial policy and best practice for fostering technological advances in the energy, digital, defence and other critical sectors. Many of the assumptions that once shaped the liberal international trading and financial order no longer adequately capture the new realities of strategic economic competition, climate change, national security, and energy requirements. These factors are altering borders between states and markets, although the impacts vary considerably because of different economic conditions, traditions, and politics.

L’ordre international libéral, dominé par les États-Unis depuis la fin de la guerre froide, est contesté par la Chine et la Russie. Des blocs géopolitiques risquent de se constituer autour de Washington d’une part, et de Pékin d’autre part. Dans ce contexte, les relations transatlantiques doivent être resserrées, notamment dans leur composante idéologique : des valeurs essentielles comme le respect des droits de l’homme et des libertés individuelles sont menacées, et doivent être défendues.

This paper asked scholars to assess transatlantic cooperation on some of the most pressing current affairs, with an eye to how the quality and urgency of this cooperation has changed during Biden’s first year. At the Summit for Democracy, a Biden election promise viewed with caution in Brussels, the EU’s substantive contribution was acknowledged by giving it equal visibility, though this did not dispel some suspicions that Washington’s democracy agenda is influenced by its geopolitical one.

This article summarizes the thematic issue findings, focusing on the factors that contribute to stabilize or weaken EU–US relations. Seen together, the articles have systematically documented that there is a growing pressure on transatlantic relations both in multilateral institutional settings as well as in foreign and security policy.

Smith ocuses on the links between transatlantic relations—a structured array of markets, hierarchies, networks, ideas, and institutions—and broader elements of international structure and world order. It argues that the changing state of transatlantic relations reflects changes in the structure of the relations themselves, but also structural change in the global and domestic arenas and how such change shapes or reflects the actions of a wide variety of agents.

Les quatre années qui séparent la prestation de serment de Donald Trump et celle de Joe Biden ont contribué à accélérer la réflexion sur la dépendance de l’Union vis-à-vis des États-Unis en ouvrant un débat sur le sens profond de l’autonomie stratégique. Dans le cadre des travaux du Groupe d’études géopolitiques sur l’autonomie stratégique européenne, nous avons souhaité proposer à une vingtaine de personnalités internationales de plusieurs sensibilités et horizons de réfléchir à l’impact de la présidence Biden sur le futur de l’autonomie stratégique européenne.

It is not yet clear whether the Biden administration will demark itself from its predecessors, and nor is it obvious whether a more friendly US ally might take the wind out of the European strategic autonomy sails. In light of this significant uncertainty, this paper attempts to conceptualize several paths that the Biden administration might take, and what they would mean for Europe.

Examines the impact of Trump's "America First" foreign policy on transatlantic relations, showing that there has been a pronounced shift from the fiduciary to the predictive form of trust, a development that challenges the very essence of transatlantic relations.

With the election of Donald Trump as president of the United States in 2016, the transatlantic relations entered a renewed period of crisis. The former US administration challenged key international norms at the core of the EU's identity - thereby testing the EU's ability to rethink its position in the world. Against this background, studies have attempted to analyse the EU's response vis-à-vis the US mainly from a realist and socio-psychological perspectives. Yet little attention has been given to the crucial emotional component underlying the EU's response - related to EU's recognition needs. Therefore, this article proposes to analyse the transatlantic crisis under the Trump administration through the lens of recognition theories and emotions in IR.