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The Americas

The transatlantic relationship has been the cornerstone of the EU’s foreign and security policy. However, in a context where some in the US are looking inwards and questioning the values and institutions their country has built internationally, expectations on Europe have increased. The rise of new global power centres has added a new dimension to transatlantic debates, and both sides of the Atlantic must redefine the relationship to preserve security and prosperity, as well as maintain influence in an emerging international system where the 'West’– may no longer be dominant.

The EU has also cultivated and institutionalised relations with Canada and many countries of Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). Recent changes in the international context have made the EU a more attractive partner to LAC countries, which are facing economic slowdowns, rising criminality and problems related to the rule of law. However, the increasing contestation of democratic values (which used to bind LAC countries together) has put regional institutions under pressure and strained relations with the EU.

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  • 19May 2003

    Les Européens seraient-ils comme l'Amérique ? Désormais, « c'est la mission qui fait la coalition et non l'inverse » : tel était le nouveau dogme stratégique américain, érigé en doctrine transatlantique par Donald Rumsfeld au lendemain des attentats du 11 septembre.

  • 01April 2003
    By

    In its National Security Strategy (NSS) published in September 2002, the Bush administration maintains that the United States reserves the right to act pre-emptively to `stop rogue states and their terrorist clients before they are able to threaten or use weapons of mass destruction against the United States and our allies and friends'.

  • 01April 2003

    The April 2003 Transatlantic Conference, The EU and the US: partners in stability?, was held in Paris. Bringing together officials and academics from both sides of the Atlantic, the conference analysed the state of transatlantic relations after the invasion of Iraq.

  • 07March 2003

    The 8th meeting of the Institute’s Task Force on South-Eastern Europe was held on 7 March 2003 in Paris. Attended by a number of European and American officials and experts, this session assessed the convergences and divergences between EU and US policy in the Western Balkans today and the next imperatives of the international community’s agenda for the region.

  • 27February 2003

    Iraq, Iraq, Iraq - a code word for the crisis across the Atlantic and discord within Europe. Yet, though the divide across the Atlantic is bound to grow, the differences within Europe will probably dissipate because, in fact, the overwhelming majority of Europeans are against the war such as it is being forced upon them.

  • 17February 2003

    La gravité de la crise européenne et transatlantique ne tient pas tant aux injures et ressentiments réciproques, qui se propagent pourtant comme une traînée de poudre, qu'à la conjonction de deux mouvements ravageurs : une Amérique sans mémoire, une Europe sans vision.

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    01January 2003

    The idea behind this transatlantic book predates the intense transatlantic exchanges that took place prior to the war in Iraq in early 2003. The run-up to the passage of UN Resolution 1441 in November 2002 provided clear indications that Euro-American relations were about to enter previously uncharted territory.

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    01December 2002

    Most Americans see the regime of Saddam Hussein as a major threat to regional and international security that must be thwarted, even if that means threatening or even using military force. If Saddam were to acquire nuclear weapons, they fear, he would seek to use them to dominate the Middle East, possibly invading his neighbours as he has in the past and perhaps deterring the United States from stopping him.

  • 01December 2002

    Bearing in mind that the Iraqi issue is and will remain high on the European and transatlantic agendas, the EU Institute for Security Studies has decided to examine it thoroughly through a series of publications and activities. The following texts are so far available

  • 25November 2002

    A transatlantic ‘brainstorming’ on Iraq brought together more than 40 officials and experts from both sides of the Atlantic. In the seminar, the options for tackling the Iraqi threat, from UNSC-sponsored inspections to military intervention, were considered. Special attention was paid to the difficulties of the aftermath of a war and occupation, and the implications for the transatlantic alliance and the Middle East region.

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