The Revenge of Europe

The collapse of the Soviet Union, the reunification of Germany, and the emergence of the European Union (EU) have all raised questions regarding the United States' transatlantic relationship and the subsequent role of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The author takes a brief look at past US-European relations and provides an enlightening and provocative analysis of the current state of affairs. Recent tensions in the relationship, he concludes, are a result of the EU's growing role as a state actor in the international system. Policy differences between the United States and the EU are merely symptoms of the changes resulting from the EU's new role. The author proposes a tentative typology of alliances and concludes that the United States and the EU have a co-dependent relationship, with the United States subsidizing the EU's pursuit of policies that, whether by accident or design, undermine US interests. The author calls for a reformulation of the alliance that allows both the United States and the European Union to pursue their own interests while forcing the EU to take responsibility for its own defense.