Transatlantic relations

Practising Homeland Security across the Atlantic: Practical Learning and Policy Convergence in North America and Europe

by Ruben Zaiotti

European Security (forthcoming 2012)

Despite different traditions, interests and perceptions characterizing North American and European approaches to... more Despite different traditions, interests and perceptions characterizing North American and European approaches to homeland security, since 9/11 policy-makers across the Atlantic have formulated increasingly similar policies to deal with terrorism and other international security threats. Challenging mainstream accounts elaborated in the policy convergence literature, and drawing from sociological works in performance studies, this essay argues that the recent evolution of homeland security policies in Europe and North America can be understood as an instance of ‘practical learning’. From this perspective, this outcome is the result of the acquisition on the part of European and North American policy-makers of the practical knowledge necessary to carry out the new policies, policies learned by mimicking the practices of their counterparts across the Atlantic. This argument is then applied to examine two cases of policy convergence in Europe and North America – the proposal for a ‘European Passenger Name Record’ system and the project of a regional ‘Security Perimeter’

The League of Nations: A Retreat from International Law?

by Stephen Wertheim

forthcoming in Journal of Global History Vol. 7 No. 2 (2012)

During the First World War, civil society groups across the North Atlantic put forward an array of plans for recasting... more During the First World War, civil society groups across the North Atlantic put forward an array of plans for recasting international society. The most prominent ones sought to build on the Hague Conferences of 1899 and 1907 by developing international legal codes and, in a drastic innovation, obligating and militarily enforcing the judicial settlement of disputes. Their ideal was a world governed by law, which they opposed to politics. This idea was championed by the largest groups in the United States and France in favor of international organization, and they had likeminded counterparts in Britain. The Anglo-American architects of the League of Nations, however, defined their vision against legalism. Their declaratory design sought to ensure that artificial machinery never stifled the growth of common consciousness. Paradoxically, the bold new experiment in international organization was forged from an anti-formalistic ethos — one that slowed the momentum of international law and portended the rise of global governance.

Building the Transatlantic Area of Freedom, Security and Justice: The Case of the Passenger Name Record Agreements

by Andrew Byrne

Engage in Youth Policies to Decrease Alienation

by Tornike Metreveli

NATO is suffering a lack of consensus on transatlantic burden sharing issues and regional interests. NATO should... more NATO is suffering a lack of consensus on transatlantic burden sharing issues and regional interests. NATO should engage more actively in youth policies in order to shift the persisting attitude of alienation felt among the NATO partners.

“De los documentos de Colón a Cien años de soledad: el paso de la invención a la inversión.” Cincinnati Romance Review 6 (1987): 102-114.

by Carmen Rabell

"Celsius 9/11: Michael Moore's German Reception and the (Contemporary) Image of America."

by Thomas Clark

Safeguarding German-American Relations in the New Century: Understanding and Accepting Mutual Differences. Ed. Hermann Kurthen, Stefan Immerfall, and Antonio Menendez. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2006: 213-229.

Understanding Romanian foreign policy in the context of transatlantic divergences

by Mircea Micu

Romanian Journal of Political Science, Vol. 7, No. 7, 2007

There were at least four situations in which European and American stances over how international politics should be... more There were at least four situations in which European and American stances over how international politics should be conducted clashed and in which Romania was pressured to take one side or another: international child adoptions, the Kyoto Protocol, the International Criminal Court and the War in Iraq. Why did Romania decide to align sometimes with the US and other times with European countries? This paper uses the explanatory power of three leading theories of international relations to explain this puzzle. Firstly, it shows that systemic forces of power relations are suitable for explaining state behaviour, but only in security-related matters (neo-realism). Secondly, it shows that public opinion is not translated into government policy either because public interest is lacking or information about public’s preferences is not available (liberalism). Thirdly, it shows how inter-subjectively shared meanings, identity recognition and socialisation of new norms offer the most compelling explanations of Romania’s behaviour in the four situations of transatlantic divergences (constructivism).

'Jonathan’s Jokes: American Humour in the late-Victorian Press’, Media History, 18:1, (2012), pp. 33-49.

by Bob Nicholson

During the final quarter of the nineteenth century, columns of American jokes became a regular feature of numerous... more During the final quarter of the nineteenth century, columns of American jokes became a regular feature of numerous British newspapers. The Newcastle Weekly Currant, for example, had a weekly column of ‘Yankee Snacks’; The North Wales Chronicle had ‘American Humour’; the Hampshire Telegraph its ‘Jonathan's Jokes’; and the Northern Weekly Gazette sported a ‘Stars and Stripes’ column. Lloyd's Weekly Newspaper introduced a regular column of ‘American Jokes’ in 1896, the same year it achieved an unprecedented circulation of one million readers. Almost half a century before Hollywood, here was a distinctively American form of popular culture which took Britain by storm. It has, however, received little academic attention. This article explores the development of the American humour column, considers the way in which it was consumed by British readers, and argues that these seemingly ephemeral jokes played a key role in shaping Victorian encounters with America.

U.S. - EU Relations : Drifting Apart? Disssociative and Associative Approaches

by René SCHWOK

Published in Pascaline Winand & Eric Philippart (eds.) Ever Closer Parnership. Policy-Making in US-EU Relations, Brussels, European Interuniversity Press/Peter Lang, 2001; pp. 363-385.

This chapter exposes exaggerations and sometimes even the objectives errors which have appeared in the 'dissociative... more This chapter exposes exaggerations and sometimes even the objectives errors which have appeared in the 'dissociative approach' : those researchers who have wrongly predicted a dislocation of the transatlantic link after the end of the Cold War.
This study mainly analyses the reasoning which led to affirm that NATO was condemned to disappeart, that the Uruguay Round agreement would never be concluded,and that the US were commited to torpedo both European Singlem Market and the Single Currency.

Inevitable Decline versus Predestined Stability: Disciplinary Explanations of the Evolving Transatlantic Order, in: Anderson, Jeffrey/Ikenberry G. John/Risse, Thomas (Ed.), The End of the West? Crisis and Chance in the Atlantic Order, Ithaca: Cornell University Press 2008, 28-52.

by Gunther Hellmann

Fishing in the Mild West. Democratic Peace and Militarized Interstate Disputes in the Transatlantic Community, in: Review of International Studies, 34: 3 (2008), 481-506 (with Benjamin Herborth)..

by Gunther Hellmann

“Principle or Power? Jimmy Carter's Ambivalent Endorsement of the EMS, 1977-1979”

by Duccio Basosi

Journal of Transatlantic Studies, n. 1, 2010, ISSN: 1479-4012(2010)8:1.

During his term in office, US President Jimmy Carter made several symbolic gestures to show his support to European... more During his term in office, US President Jimmy Carter made several symbolic gestures to show his support to European integration. In particular, in December 1978 he warmly endorsed the European Monetary System. This seemed coherent with Carter's focus on multilateralism and, more precisely, on the 'trilateral' partnership between the US, Western Europe and Japan. Declassified documents show, however, that such endorsement only came after careful observation of the characteristics of the EMS and after discrete diplomatic pressures on the Europeans to ensure that the EMS would not impinge on the global role of the US dollar. .

“Il crollo di Bretton Woods tra teoria economica e realpolitik"

by Duccio Basosi

Storia delle relazioni internazionali, n. 2, 1999, ISSN: 1120-0677, pp. 65-97.

L'articolo discute, sulla base di documenti declassificati dell'amministrazione statunitense di Richard Nixon... more L'articolo discute, sulla base di documenti declassificati dell'amministrazione statunitense di Richard Nixon (1969-74), le multiple ragioni che condussero Nixon a decretare la fine del sistema monetario di Bretton Woods, con particolare riferimento al ruolo dell'Europa occidentale nei disegni della politica estera statunitense..

“The Transatlantic Relationship and the End of Bretton Woods, 1969-71”

by Duccio Basosi

In G. Scott-Smith, V. Aubourg (eds.), Atlantic, Euratlantic, or Europe-America? The Atlantic Community and the European Idea from Kennedy to Nixon, Paris, Soleb, 2011, ISBN: 978-2-918157-00-7, pp. 468-485.

Based on an array of primary sources from the Nixon administration, this chapter argues that the divergence in the... more Based on an array of primary sources from the Nixon administration, this chapter argues that the divergence in the respective interests of the US and the West Europeans was not a consequence of the end of Bretton Woods but, rather, one of its main causes. Diverging economic and foreign policy interests and priorities among the allies, coupled with the inability to reconcile such differences by cooperative means, eventually led to Nixon acting unilaterally to rescind the gold-dollar link. The idealistic expectations of the previous decades, symbolised by the many references to an imagined Atlantic Community, gave way to more rational calculations about the mutual advantages and disadvantages of the security relationship, punctuated with a greater awareness of potential economic conflicts.

“The US, Western Europe and a Changing Monetary System, 1969-1979”

by Duccio Basosi

In A. Varsori, G. MIgani (eds.), Europe in the International Arena during the 1970s: Entering a Different World, Brussels, Lang, 2011, ISBN: 9789052016894, pp. 99-116.

The article deals with Transatlantic relations throughout the 1970s. It shows that international monetary affairs were... more The article deals with Transatlantic relations throughout the 1970s. It shows that international monetary affairs were at the top of the foreign policy agendas of the governments on both sides of the Atlantic, and that the story of US-West European relations during the decade was largely the story of monetary relations.

Transatlantic Cooperation on Travelers' Data Processing: From Sorting Countries to Sorting Individuals

by Rocco Bellanova

Transatlantic Information Sharing: At a Crossroads

by Rocco Bellanova

“From love to hate”: A story of Germania and Sam about German-American relations

by Maik Arnold

'From Love to Hate': A Story of Germania and Sam – Annotations to the History of American-German Relations (co-authored with Przemysław Łukasik, Jagiellonian University Kraków), Workshop ‘Identity, Migration and International Relations: Diagnoses, Symptoms and Future Prospects in Europe and the U.S.’ (2011-02-10), Essen: Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities (KWI).

This essay is a modern narrative history, which obtains its content from fictional characters of the most famous... more This essay is a modern narrative history, which obtains its content from fictional characters of the most famous English poet William Shakespeare. The aim of this story-based analysis is to reconsider configurations, general trends and collective aspirations in the international and transatlantic relations between two nations of Western culture, Germany and the United States. On the basis of seven picturesque characters and episodes, each representing an imagination of love and hate in transatlantic relations, were selected from his dramas and poems and interpreted against the background of cultural historical and socio-cultural developments in German-American relations: (1) The Birth of Macduff, (2) The Passionate Pilgrim, (3) The Two Noble Kinsmen, (4) Shylock and Aaron the Moor, (5) Macbeths Dream of Power, (6) The Phoenix and the Turtle and (7) Hamlets Reflections and the Self-assurance of Fortinbras. This interpretative, comparative analysis involves for each image three different levels of interpretation: On the basis of Shakespeare’s texts a description and paraphrase of some important facts in the plot and the main characters will be produced. Thereafter, in a hypothesis will be summarize what we have seen as the main point in the story (level of the meaning of the image). And finally, we will transfer these meanings, ways of Shakespeare’s reception and language games (‘Sprachspiele’; sensu Wittgenstein) to historical and socio-cultural substantiation.

‘Getting the Worst from Both Words': Washington e gli albori della Ostpolitik

by Giovanni Bernardini

in A. Varsori (ed.), Alle origini del presente. L’Europa occidentale nella crisi degli anni settanta, Milano: Franco Angeli, 2007, pp. 25-37, ISBN 8846-481979

‘Getting the Worst from Both Words': Washington and the early years of Ostpolitik ‘Getting the Worst from Both Words': Washington and the early years of Ostpolitik

The Key Aspects of Neoconservative Influence on the U.S. Foreign and Defense Policy During the first G.W. Bush Administration

by Petar Kurecic

Neoconservative political ideology influenced the U.S. foreign and defense policy in various ways. During the... more Neoconservative political ideology influenced the U.S. foreign and defense policy in various ways. During the President G. W. Bush’s first administration, studied here, neoconservatives embedded in the Administration had a key influence on the President and his foreign policy decisions. Since President is the key foreign and defense policy decision maker in the U.S.A., the influence of the neoconservatives in this field was very significant. To support the main thesis of the paper, content analysis of neoconservative policy papers was made, and quotes that represent policy goals of neoconservatives were identified and presented. It was concluded that the foreign and defense policy of the Bush administration was influenced by the neoconservative political ideology, but the neoconservatives and hardline realists that actively participated in decision-making processes took a significant deflection from the political philosophy and advices of the ‘original’ neoconservatives. They used some parts of the neoconservative ideology, considered useful for implication of their policy, particularly towards the Middle East and especially towards Iraq. Therefore, practical (geo) political reasoning of the decision-makers from the Administration clouded the proclaimed theoretical base of their policy, as well as neoconservative values they claimed to support.
Key words: neoconservatives, political ideology, G. W. Bush, U.S. foreign and defense policy, Iraq.