Crisis and resurgence: redefining the United States and European Union relationship in the face of global challenges

Abstract

The ‘unipolar moment’ of seemingly invincible United States power enjoyed early on in the George W. Bush administration is finally over. The US today is beset by problems of such severity that it has provoked a global financial crisis. There is record indebtedness both public and private along with fraud, malfeasance and soaring unemployment. A reliance on an unprecedented taxpayer rescue package to stave off collapse of the domestic banking, insurance and auto industries is now underway with even General Motors partially nationalised. Recession at home plus costly foreign wars have undermined the neoconservative foreign policy consensus, while the neo-liberal economic model is found wanting both conceptually and in its application to market reality. China and India herald a potential move away from Western hegemony to a multipolar universe where decisions taken in Beijing or Delhi will increasingly impact on Western capitals. This paper argues that Brazil, Russia, India and China (the BRICs), with China foremost, do not as yet command the resources, nor, due to internal division, can they as yet challenge Western dominance. However, this is as much dependent on the European Union and United States working cooperatively together in defining a new economic and geopolitical agenda for the coming era—valuing fairness, greater social equality and mutual respect. Now, given the change of administration in the USA with the election of Barack Obama, a more activist state role is once again possible. Focusing on green issues, climate change, environmental degradation, population stabilisation and, last but not least, a financial system subject to proper accountability and regulation could reinvigorate and promote the development of new technologies sustaining economic prosperity and internal security. With the global goodwill underpinning his presidency, Barack Obama could act as the needed catalyst for positive change that all are seeking. The human rights model offered by the European Union and initiatives such as the EU-Med concept of President Nicolas Sarkozy, indicate what an activist presidency could achieve.