The ‘Mutual’, ‘Shared’ and ‘Dual’ Responsibility of the West: The EU and the US in a Sustainable Transatlantic Alliance

Abstract

If there was a prize for the most enduring topic in post-war European International Relations scholarship, the ups and downs of the transatlantic alliance would be a serious contender. Ever since the 1950s, thinking about the past, present and future relations between Europe and the United States has been, at the same time, an old hat as well as a blossoming evergreen. In particular after 9/11 and the Iraq crisis, publications about transatlantic relations have been produced in a staggering rate by academics, journalists and think tanks alike. The general tone has become louder, cliches more pronounced, judgements more radical, anxieties more concrete and policy recommendations more impulsive. On the whole, the debate, attention seeking and headline driven, has become less ‘responsible’, less accountable, than what we were used to in the past.1