A New US Approach to Europe? The Transatlantic Relationship after Bush

Abstract

Although the NATO alliance has suffered from policy disagreements throughout its history, current divisions derive mainly from a shift in US grand strategy associated with the Bush Doctrine, which is based on assumptions of US hegemony, an assertive nationalist approach in relations with other states, including erstwhile allies, and the preemptive/preventive use of force. Although this approach has failed to achieve its objectives, the underpinnings on which it is based are deeply rooted in the American political psyche. Given the different interpretations of the security challenges facing the member states of the NATO alliance system, the deeply imbedded views of uniqueness and hegemony that characterize the American political psyche, and the likely unwillingness of the next generation of US political leaders to revise US policy so fully as to eliminate all aspects of recent US attitudes and behavior, it is highly unlikely that the close institutional relationships that characterized the cold war years will be an important feature of future US relations with European states.