LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Spring 2010

by Dan Hamilton / Daniel Hamilton

As the geopolitical framework for transatlantic partnership shifts, the relationship is challenged to adjust accordingly.

Sir,
Werner Weidenfeld is right to point to the high hopes Europeans have for U.S. President Obama, as well as to question whether Obama’s popularity will translate into more effective transatlantic cooperation. Obama and his team have made it clear that they consider a revitalised transatlantic partnership essential when it comes to tackling the world’s most pressing challenges. Nonetheless, their approach will be less Eurocentric than many Europeans expect. For one Obama’s popularity has not persuaded key European governments to fully align themselves with U.S. priorities on a number of issues. Moreover, a number of headaches in U.S.-EU relations, including spats over trade protection and issues such as 100% cargo screening provisions and potential taxes on European tourists, stem from the U.S. Congress, not the Obama administration.

Congress is key to effective climate change legislation, ratification of treaties, and a host of major issues important to Europeans. Even though the Democrats hold the majority in both the Senate and the House of Representatives, Europeans should not view Congress as a European parliamentary body. On most key issues, the administration must work to cobble together legislative coalitions to advance its agenda – and success is never preordained. Finally, regardless of the President’s personal popularity, the issues themselves – from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran to global economic governance and climate change – offer tough tradeoffs and few easy choices.

In short, while tone and style have changed for the better, differences in national interest and outlook, both across the Atlantic and within Europe, could mark the limits of charisma. And as the geopolitical framework for transatlantic partnership shifts, the relationship is challenged to adjust accordingly. Nonetheless, the transatlantic partners approach each other today with a new tone and spirit. The Obama administration presents Europe with the rarest of opportunities: an open moment to forge an Atlantic partnership that is more capable of responding to the opportunities and challenges of the new world of rising powers. Whether Europeans have the will for such partnership, and whether Americans have the patience, is an open question.