15373

WiSe 21/22: EU and United States Foreign and Security Policy in Comparative Perspective: Prospects for transatlantic cooperation

Ingo Peters

Comments

The end of the East-West conflict (“11/9”) and the terrorist attacks of September 2001 (“9/11”) significantly altered or accentuated the security agenda of “the West” (and beyond), i. e. of EU-Europe and the United States of America (as well as Canada). Instead of traditional military threats transatlantic partners, governments and societies (as well as other part of the world) encounter sources of insecurity, which are new or at least have gained new relevance: international/transnational terrorism, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, regional conflicts failing states, transnational migration or organized crime. Hence, instead of `threats' security `risks' have emerged, associated with state and non-state actors, whose intentions and capabilities are not always obvious. Many analysts as well as politician address these challenges from a premise of transatlantic policy interdependence, often corresponding to a plea and hope for policy coordination and cooperation across the Atlantic when it comes to tackle these challenges. After the often dramatic (or dramatized?) crisis in transatlantic relations during the Bush years, experts expected first some constructive changes with the Obama administration in 2009, and more lately an escalations of political conflicts with Trump coming to Office in November 2016. However, cooperation in some areas has been ever since been as much part of this relationship as political conflicts are in other areas. The focus of this seminar is directed toward three interrelated aspects of the new security agenda and the transatlantic partners' attempts to cope with these challenges: 1) How do political actors on both sides define the problems, the adequate strategies and instruments for addressing these security risks? 2) How is this agenda institutionalized and which forms of governance are enfolding? 3) What kind of implications do the answers to the previous questions have for a) the practice and prospects of transatlantic cooperation and b) for problem solving, i. e. for the effectiveness or success of transatlantic risk management policies towards the world? Case studies on various policy issues should finally enable as to generated answers to the overarching question: Which conditions are still prone for generating transatlantic cooperation, and which conditions are more often resulting in transatlantic conflicts? close