Transatlantic Economic Relations in a Changing Global Political Economy: Achieving Togetherness but Missing the Bus?

Abstract

This article focuses on the changing context for transatlantic relations within the global political economy. The first part of the article identifies key areas of structural change in the GPE and in particular the potentially revolutionary shifts caused by global instability and the emergence of new economic powers. The argument then explores changing patterns of economic relations between the EU and the US, within a general framework of continuity created by the coexistence of competition and convergence. These contextual factors are then related to patterns of Atlanticism and transatlanticism, to questions of values and identities in the GPE and to the possibility of an EU–US ‘grand strategy’ for the changing GPE. The conclusion argues that although there is perhaps more secure ground for a sustainable EU–US ‘compact’ than previously, the EU and the US may have ‘missed the bus’ in terms of jointly shaping the future of the global economy.