An agency of the EU

Overview

The role and importance of the United States in international affairs is far from a new subject - it has been the subject of debate for quite some time. A new dimension to the currently ongoing debate though is the decrease in US power (which has remained largely unchallenged since the end of the Cold War). For decades, the prevailing view has been that a very limited number of global issues can be resolved without America. With the financial crisis, questionable foreign policy choices and growing global competition from other international actors, most notably China, does this view still hold? Is US decline inevitable and what does it imply? If decreasing US power is indeed a fact, how will the US manage this new situation and what will be its influence be in the future ? What will become of the United States? Will it remain a leading power, one of many powers or just a regional power?

At the same time, the United States has clear expectations towards its European partners. As President Obama put it recently: "We want strong allies. We are not looking to be patrons of Europe. We are looking to be partners of Europe". He spoke specifically of European defence capabilities, but this attitude can nonetheless be traced in other areas ranging from the war in Afghanistan, the Middle East Peace Process, the fight against terrorism or the economic recovery. So what kind of partner should the European Union aim to be?

Publications

  • European and US foreign policy chiefs meet at the International Afghanistan Conference which took place in Bonn, Germany on 5 December 2011. © Martin Meissner/AP/SIPA.

    Time for an honest audit of EU-US relations

    Patryk Pawlak takes a frank look at the challenges, but also the opportunities, for the EU in this US electoral year.

  • The Agenda for the EU-US strategic partnership

    This volume brings together contributions based on reports originally presented at the 2010 EU Washington Forum and is divided into four main chapters which focus specifically on Europe’s ‘unfinished business’ in the Western Balkans and the eastern neighbourhood, the Middle East, transatlantic cooperation on the economy and nuclear non-proliferation.

  • Construction continues at ground zero in New York

    Fears trump freedoms

    The oft-stated phrase that 9/11 has changed our lives is true, argues Patryk Pawlak. Marking the 10th anniversary of the attacks, he examines how they have tipped the delicate balance between security and freedom.

  • Construction worker sets up a US flag at ground zero

    Ten years after: the War on Terror was not inevitable

    Ten years after the barbarian attacks against the Americans, have we even understood its long-term impact? Was the Bush administration right in thinking that 9/11 changed the world?