Dennison, Andrew. (2002) Shades of Multilateralism. U.S. Perspectives on Europe´s Role in the War on Terrorism. ZEI Discussion Paper: 2002, C 106. [Discussion Paper]
Abstract
[Introduction]. Europe has long had a pivotal role in American foreign policy. The catastrophic terrorism that came to America on that sunny Tuesday morning in September 2001 is unlikely to change this. Transatlantic relations will remain at the core of world order, even as the American giant concentrates its might on the prevention of another September 11th. Pursuing the perpetrators of that dark deed, and more importantly, thwarting those who would do so again, will top the American political agenda for a long time to come. An unusual mood of determination has settled across the land; nine months on, the flags still fly; the public still gives the President unprecedented support in his "war on terror." This is an American public that sees the biggest challenges in the war as yet to come. It is a people ostensibly ready to do battle with Iraq. It is an America that sees the challenge of terrorism as long-term and complex. Domestic and foreign policies alike have been infused with a new urgency: concentrating the capacities of the shaken nation on warding off the next attack. If others, if Europe, can help in this quest, so much the better. America’s new determination does not mean America is uninterested in partners. It does mean America is more serious about foreign policy than it has been in a long time. Americans will want to cooperate with partners in Europe and elsewhere — where possible — but Americans will also condone acting alone when necessary. Americans, especially within the broad and diverse foreign policy community, have long debated how much "multilateralism" is possible, how much "unilateralism" is necessary. Operationalized, the abstract opposites "multi" or "uni" most frequently refer to cooperation between the United States of America and the less than united states of Europe. The United States is a global power; all the same, when it talks about international cooperation, it is almost always also talking about cooperation with Europe. This debate over the value of the transatlantic partnership will go on, in a changed context certainly, but by no means bereft of the many underlying continuities that have come to constitute relations across the Atlantic. U.S. perspectives on Europe’s role in the unfolding war against terrorism must thus be seen in the shadow of this larger, older discourse.
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