The EU-US relations were the basis upon which global institutions were built at the end of World War II, they permitted the creation of the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, and the North-Atlantic Treaty Organization. They were responsible for forging the framework still used to regulate international relations. The US has been developing diplomatic relations with Europe ever since 1953, and it established a formal delegation to the European Communities in 1961, while a European mission was in Washington to represent its dealing with the US government since 1954. Founded on a strong common history, US-EU relations embodied stability and mutual assistance during the Cold War, but they appear to be in jeopardy today. Changes of condition in the transatlantic relationship have been a recurrent point of focus for the media over the last few years.
[...] Since this official trip to the European Council, both the US and the EU adopted a very consensual and diplomatic stand, aiming at the reconciliation and organized numerous official meetings. However, it may appear as a farce, the transatlantic relations seem rather superficial; they couldn't stand another crisis as strong as the one about Iraq. Yet the political will exists. A still necessary relationship First, NATO is still a necessary organisation and if the guarantee mutual military assistance between its members. If it isn't as important as it was, it remains a matter of international security. [...]
[...] An easy example is the evolution of the Iraq crisis until the beginning of the war. But the application of those values is still in question, with the highly controversial use of the prison of Guantanamo and of illegal flights transporting prisoners suspected of terrorism out of any judiciary system. Different values led to different behaviours which weren't understood across the ocean; it hurt the population and gave rise to anti-Americanism and anti-Europeanism (if more especially an anti-French sentiment). The means are so different it seems hard to keep cooperating. [...]
[...] Founded on a strong common history, US-EU relations embodied stability and mutual assistance during the Cold War, but they appear today in jeopardy. Changes of condition in the transatlantic relationship have been a recurrent point of focus for the media over the last few years. Between crisis and reconciliation, anti-Americanism and anti-French sentiment, the issue of EU-US relations represents a global concern since the solving of numerous international conflicts and crisis and the functioning of international organizations rely on the cooperation of those powerful entities. [...]
[...] The only foreign policy really available for the EEC was the US. If the Europeans were never happy with the asymmetry of the relationship, the looming threat of the Soviet Union put the pressure necessary to compel them to accept concessions. Rebellion couldn't be organized at the European level, lacking the political integration necessary and took place at the national level, within strict limits. Opposition was de facto restricted to minor claims, no challenger existed to object to American authority. Shared values shaped the common objective. [...]
[...] The opposition affected the working of the EU and finally, the insulting comment of the French President regarding the stand taken by new European countries inflamed the Union. With the integration of Eastern countries, the relationship of the EU with the US may become far more complicated because of the strong ties linking them since the end of the Cold War. A common policy would be necessary to ensure to the EU to stand as a credible check and balances against the US, yet, with so much antagonism within the EU, it seems difficult to ever achieve it. A. Toward reconciliation? [...]
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