Trans-Atlantic and Global Issues - Essay Example

TRANS-ATLANTIC and GLOBAL ISSUES The transatlantic relationship finds its existence at the beginning of the 21st century to what it seem as a turning point in history that might result in the adoption of one of the following alternatives for the two sides: European trending towards the US, adaptation (assuming a relative equal partnership, but in which American maintains its superiority), that attempt to balance the American control together with other players. Certainly, in practice, none of these alternatives or options seems probable, thus making a level of agreement between these two parties depending on their political will and their relative power and interests is the most probable way. Analyzing the development of the transatlantic relationship in the last years, we noticed the relative inconsistency and even obscurity of these relations. They are characterized, by an extremely high level of integration and interdependence especially in the fields of economy, political-military and cultural; while on the other hand, by numerous tensions and confrontations weakening the validity of the transatlantic partnership. The success of the transatlantic relationship is based on the background of common values that has braced both Europe and America, therefore creating an identity of values that finds its roots in the ideas of the Enlightenment which encompass the centrality of freedom, democracy, and reason as primary values of the society. These principles represent a constant in the transatlantic expression and have stimulated any transatlantic joint action intended to defend and export them. One of the first documents that contributed to the establishment of a common transatlantic consciousness that have referred to these principles is The Atlantic Charter, signed on 14 August, 1941. This Charter set forth the joint declaration of their peace aims calling for the self-determination of all peoples and self-government and sovereign rights for all nations that had been deprived of them. Beyond the continent of Europe, the colonial system had to be dismantled and the promise of self-determination enshrined in the Atlantic Charter applied on a global scale. Another significant document containing transatlantic values and seeking to universalize them is the Charter of the United Nations which was signed on 26 June 1945. The preamble of the Charter reaffirms the need to promote peace, fundamental human rights, freedom, social and economic profess, and international law. The United States and the United Kingdom became the two of the naissance members of the United Nations, as well as two of the five permanent members of the Security Council. The end of the Cold War offered the impulse for strengthening and deepening the transatlantic relations. The values become Western and constantly relate themselves in opposition to any communist beliefs. So, the Cold War can be seen, not simply as a political-military confrontation between two powerful influences, but also as an ideology of altercation between two opposing systems of values. The Soviet's threat determined the institutionalization of the transatlantic alliance through the formation of the NATO. The North Atlantic Treaty brought NATO to existence to where the organization comprises a system of defense to where all member countries agree to offer defense in response to an attack by an external entity. NATO assured the lasting relationship of Euro-Atlantic area security, but marked the European security defense reliance towards the American military and logistic capabilities. The end of the Soviet Union and the bipolar system marked the commencement of the new era in the international relations, and for the transatlantic relationship, in particular. Consequently, the transatlantic relationship merged at the end of the World War II as a set of values that ensured the promotion of freedom, democracy, respect for human rights, rule of law, and equality. This "historical partnership for democracy" (Dobrescu 2003:161) occurred in successive cooperation in collaboration of the following fields: the founding of the Bretton-Woods System, the reconstruction of Europe, the formation of the GATT, NATO, the decline of communism, and the most significant is the alliance between United States and United Kingdom which eventually liberated Kuwait in the Persian Gulf War. Although the Cold War was a period of great camaraderie, the transatlantic relationship was not free from tensions and oppositions; most of them due to the primary role of US, to what Europeans, especially the French, manifest acts of autonomy from the supposedly American predominance. However, for the most part, the western alliance was characterized by regular consultations and unity. The leading role of the US was not felt as hegemonic, US actions were not seen as unilateralist because the allies participated in the decision making (Pond 2004: 25). A significant event in February 2003 where European protests against the war in Iraq which made Jurgen Habermas assess the formation of a European identity by underlying the elements that individualize Europe from America. This identity of Europe as Non-American (Garton Ash 2004: 47) is created around six main attributes: "the separation of religion from politics; the formative power of the state to correct the failures of the market; a political party system composed of conservatives, liberals and socialists; social justice; moral sensibility; and supranational cooperation." There are three other issues that should be given emphasis to while pursuing a joint transatlantic strategy on the Middle East. In the objective of urgency and impending crisis, these are simply listed as follows: Iraq to be a new bargain for international involvement; Iran to avoid the next transatlantic breakdown; Israel-Palestine to begin a new bargain for international involvement. If Iraq is eventually turned from a scoundrel state to a failed state, this will result to a failure to the efforts of US to promote stability and democratization in the entire region. America's failure in Iraq will not only have undermining effect on other regional influences, but will also increase terrorism. Taking this into consideration, Bush's second term appeared to give more importance to cooperation with the other Western allies over the future of Iraq. Iran's potential development of nuclear weapons is equally threatening for the Western world. Europe arguably has more influence than US over Iran, Syria and Lebanon. US on the other hand are using Europe as a bridge to establish dialogue with the Iranian government over their nuclear program. So far, both sides of the Atlantic appear to be in unison that using force against Iran should be the last resort. The phenomenon that is dubbed to be the 'rise of China' may also have an impact on the future political relations between America and Europe. The People's Republic of China is often considered a rising power due to its large and stable population, its fast growing economy, and it's rapidly growing military capabilities. There are those who predict that in the second quarter of this century, China will be known as a "superpower". Soon it will be believed that in the long run China can pose the greatest challenge to America's world-wide supremacy. Therefore, the rise of China and the European influence to it can definitely have implications for the future of the transatlantic relationship. Although there are hinted differences in the approach, at the most basic level the United States and Europe have mutual desire to enhance China's place at the global arena and to enlarge its stake in the international system. Both want China to be a status quo rather than an anarchist power and believe that entangling China in the widest range of international institutions might help materialize this outcome by "socializing Beijing into international norms of behavior." (Shambaugh, 2005) Nevertheless, the European elite also have a holdover, which is animated by the belief that predominant powers should be counterbalanced and that a multi-polar world is more stable than dominance or anarchical order. In view of this, future European foreign policy behavior may not fully revere potential US consciousness to the rise of China. This is reinforced by the reality that European strategic interests or military forces are mainly absent in Asia. Furthermore, Europe has no responsibility for the defense of Taiwan and there is not an "active pro-Taiwan lobby in Europe." (Shambaugh, 2005) The potential for the sale of European arms to China can result to intense US opposition. The predictions that by the second quarter of the century to which China will rise as a superpower are noted in the following factors: "China's population is the world's largest, with about 1.3 billion citizens. With the global human population currently estimated at about 6.4 billion, China is home to approximately 20%. China's GDP has grown at a rate of about 9% per annum for more than 25 years (although recently the government has sought to slow its growth to prevent a crash), the fastest growth rate for a major economy in recorded history. The economy of China is now the second largest in the world when measures by purchasing power parity, with a GDP (PPP) of 7.124 Trillion USD in 2004. In the same period of time, it has moved 30 million people out of poverty and quadrupled the average Chinese person's income. Militarily, China also has a significant nuclear deterrent and the largest army worldwide, and its military expenditure doubled between 1997 and 2003, and is still increasing at a fast rate. Each year, the country also educates about four times as many scientists as the US does. China was also the third country after Russia and USA to send humans into space. Another important factor is the strong and economically influential Chinese Diaspora around the world, especially in South East Asian countries like Malaysia." (Kissinger, 2004) The two distinct approaches towards global responsibility, the European multilateralism and the US unilateralism, are not divergent values, but different methods of promoting their own values and interests, which in fundamental nature are similar: respecting and advancing economic market, democracy, freedom, and human rights. The United States and Europe continue to thrive on the transatlantic values, which are still central to the values of both powerful countries. Therefore it is suggested that the disagreements in the transatlantic relationship do not arise from the antagonism of values, but from the way of implementing them. Citations and References: (1) David Shambaugh, The New Strategic Triangle: US and European Reactions to China's Rise, The Washington Quarterly, (Summer 2005), at p.8 (2) Dobrescu, Paul. 2003. Geopolitica. Bucuresti: Comunicare.ro. (3) Garton, Ash, Timothy. 2004. Free World: America, Europe and the surprising future of the West. New York: Random House. (4) Kissinger, Henry. 2002. Does America Need a Foreign Policy, Touchstone edition: Simon & Schuster. (5) Kissinger, Henry A. and Summers, Lawrence H. March 2004. Renewing the Atlantic Partnership- Report of an Independent Task Force Sponsored by the Council on Foreign Relations. Read More