| June 2006
Transatlantic Relations | German-American Relations | European Union | NATO
F1 - Europe’s Lost Vision of Itself
Pally, Marcia
Internationale Politik, Transatlantic ed., Spring 2006, v7,
# 1, pp38-46
Pally explores the European Union and its contradictions:
"In the shadows of the United States, Europe neglects its
role on the world stage. The Europeans have lost sight of their
potential and responsibilities in the world. The European Union
is running up against internal contradictions that limit its own
aims. And while American liberals are waiting for Europe to become
an active global ‘soft power,’ the Germans still secretly believe
that the United States can manage the world just fine." Marcia
Pally teaches at New York University and Fordham University. Order
Article
F2 - Does Europe Have Something to Offer the World?
Alber, Andrus, de Boisgrollier, Nicolas; Kourkoumelis, Dimitris;
Micallef, Robert Stadler, Franz
The Fletcher Forum of World Affairs, Summer 2006, v30, #2,
pp179-190
”The international relevance of a small continent burdened
with high unemployment and welfare-state economies that cannot
cope with aging populations -- a continent probably more popular
with tourists than it is with investors -- is not apparent at
first glance. But it is as an unusual political construct that
the EU can serve as an inspiration for other regions seeking to
maximize their political and economic clout and stability.” The
authors of this article explore “what the existence of the European
Union means for the world, as well as what benefits it brings
to an unstable international environment.” They outline how “the
transatlantic relationship is relevant to the entire world” and
how the European Union engages the whole world in several ways
as a natural international player. Andrus Alber is Advisor
to the Governor of the Central Bank of Estonia. Nicolas de Boisgrollier
is a Visiting Fellow at the Center on the United States and Europe
at the Brookings Institution. Dimitris Kourkoumelis is an attorney
at law in Athens. Robert Micallef is the National Editor (Malta)
for EuroBarometer, a publication of the European Commission. Frans
Stadler is the founder of Stadler & Company AG ( Switzerland).
Fulltext
F3 - German and American Perspectives on Israel, Palestine, and the Middle East Conflict
Erlanger, Steven ; Gardner Feldman, Lily; Hubel, Helmut ; Dassa Kaye, Dalia; Smith, Tony; Tibi, Bassam; Timm, Bassam; Wergin, Clemens
American Institute for Contemporary German Studies, AICGS
report, German-American Issues, online edition, 42p
"Our search for compatibility and cooperation in U.S. and German/European policies should heed leaders’ declarations that actions in the international arena are driven by both values and interests. The identification of twin motives, however, begs the question of whose values and whose interests propel American and German/European policies toward the Israeli- Palestinian conflict. The following essays refer to both governmental and non-governmental actors, to both regional and third-party players. The purpose of this essay is to augment their findings by highlighting the values and interests that operate at multiple levels. Understanding both differences and similarities as to motive is crucial to the exercise of projecting the likelihood of transatlantic alliance-building on the Israeli- Palestinian conflict." Steven Erlanger, Jerusalem Bureau Chief of The New York Times;. Lily Gardiner Feldman, Senior Fellow at the American Institute for Contemporary German Studies (AICGS); Helmut Hube, Chair of Foreign Policy and International Relations at the Friedrich Schiller University of Jena, Germany; Dalia Dassa Kaye, RAND Corporation; Tony Smith, Tufts University; Bassam Tibi, Göttingen University and Cornell University; Clemens Wergin, Der Tagesspiegel/Berlin. Fulltext
F4 - EU Constitution: RIP
PS. Political Science and Politics, April 2006, v29,
#2, pp237-272
In 2005, the French and the Dutch voters went to the polls
and voted against the “EU Constitution and its promises of greater
integration and expansion once and for all. Or did they not? Has
the popular defeat of the EU Constitution so fundamentally changed
the political context that policymaking and the trajectory of
further integration will be irrevocably affected? Or, rather,
will this popular defeat simply encourage political elites to
continue integration by circumventing public engagement in the
EU policymaking process? Is this death really but the death of
the public referenda in EU governance? Our cadre of international
scholars dissect the political, social, and economic forces that
swung majority public opinion against the Constitution in both
France and the Netherlands, and analyze what the "non"
and the "nay" votes mean for their respective countries
and for the European Union.” This website of the April American
Political Science Association Symposium features 7 articles. Fulltext
F5 - NATO's Growing Role in the Greater Middle East
Gordon, Philip H.
The Brookings Institution, Center on the United States and Europe, online edition, 53p
"NATO will not become a security alliance for the Middle
East -– as it was for Western Europe -– with US and European bases
scattered throughout the region. Nonetheless, despite all the
differences among NATO members and the obstacles to a NATO role
in the Middle East region, the fact remains that the United States
and Europe will continue to have significant common security interests
there, and NATO remains the best mechanism for coordinating their
policies and operations. Another reason for NATO’s continued survival
and its growing activity in the Greater Middle East is the fact
that both Europeans and Americans have come to the realization
that they still need each other—more than either side suspected
when the Cold War ended. For all the talk of the differing threat
perceptions across the Atlantic and the building of an autonomous
European defense force, most Europeans recognize that they still
need some form of security partnership with the United States."
Philip H. Gordon, Director, Center on the United States and
Europe at the Brookings Institution. Fulltext
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