Security Strategy and Transatlantic Relations

In this much-needed study of current strategic thinking on both sides of the Atlantic, a diverse collection of leading European and American analysts are assembled to tackle key questions that remain unanswered in the existing literature:

• how much do new security strategies signal convergence or divergence in US and EU foreign and security policy doctrine?
• what tangible political and policy impacts can be attributed to new security strategies?
• what are the implications for US and EU policies towards specific regions?
• what are the prospects for collective transatlantic action?

The legacy of 9/11 is scrutinized against the backdrop of the strategic thinking that preceded it. In the 1990s, the US struggled to develop a new doctrine for American foreign policy, seeking at various times to promote a ‘New World Order’ or ‘democratic enlargement’. For its part, the EU had tried to underpin its new Common Foreign and Security Policy with a coherent set of ‘European values’ – multilateralism, human rights, environmental protection, and poverty reduction – that were best defended via collective European action. Key continuities and changes in these transatlantic efforts since 9/11 are clearly identified and closely examined.

Roland Dannreuther is a Senior Lecturer in Politics at the University of Edinburgh. John Peterson is Professor of International Politics at the University of Edinburgh.