At a time of unprecedented turmoil in the transatlantic relationship, as America asserts its right to act unilaterally to defend itself against terrorism and Europeans are increasingly aggressive in promoting a multilateralist approach to security issues, this book examines the post-9/11 and Iraqi war security environment, especially the impact on NATO and transatlantic relations as the European Union seeks to build a unified foreign and defence policy that will enable Europeans to play a fuller role in the international system.

Iraq can be considered the 'perfect storm' which brought out the stark differences between the US and Europe. The disagreement over the role of the United Nations continues and the bitterness in the United States against its betrayal by allies like France is not diminishing. Meanwhile, the standing of the United States among the European public has plummeted. Within Europe, political tensions between what US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld euphemistically called the 'Old' Europe and the 'New' Europe continue to divide. To fully comprehend these rifts, this volume takes a specific look at the core security priorities of each European state and whether these interests are best served through closer security collaboration with the US or with emerging European structures such as the European Rapid Reaction Force. It analyzes the contribution each state would make to transatlantic security, the role they envisage for existing security structures such as NATO, and the role the US would play in transatlantic security.

In this much-needed study of current strategic thinking on both sides of the Atlantic, a diverse collection of leading European and American analysts are assembled to tackle key questions that remain unanswered in the existing literature: how much do new security strategies signal convergence or divergence in US and EU foreign and security policy doctrine? what tangible political and policy impacts can be attributed to new security strategies? what are the implications for US and EU policies towards specific regions? what are the prospects for collective transatlantic action? The legacy of 9/11 is scrutinized against the backdrop of the strategic thinking that preceded it. In the 1990s, the US struggled to develop a new doctrine for American foreign policy, seeking at various times to promote a ‘New World Order’ or ‘democratic enlargement’. For its part, the EU had tried to underpin its new Common Foreign and Security Policy with a coherent set of ‘European values’ – multilateralism, human rights, environmental protection, and poverty reduction – that were best defended via collective European action. Key continuities and changes in these transatlantic efforts since 9/11 are clearly identified and closely examined.

The post-September 11th security policies of Poland, the UK, France, the US and Germany presented in this new book illustrate how and why the Atlantic community ruptured over Iraq, a result in part, it is argued, of the existence of particular national strategic cultures. Whilst the longer term effects of Iraq for the transatlantic security agenda have yet to fully transpire, what is certain is that the EU's ambitions to become a credible security actor have been seriously questioned, as has the notion of multilateralism as an international norm, as has the function of international law. The book addresses these issues by considering the evolution of the EU's role in the world and the development of American perspectives on the transatlantic security agenda. This volume was previously published as a special issue of the journal European Security.

Much scholarly attention has been paid to the United States' response to the events of 9/11. This timely volume broadens our understanding of the impact of the attacks by instead considering their consequences for European security and for the relationship between the US and leading European states. Bringing together an impressive collection of experts this work will be an excellent resource for courses on international security, European politics and international relations.

EU-US Relations offers answers to the major questions of the future of transatlantic relations and includes almost 30 contributions from prominent worldwide scholars that assess the state of EU-US relations after the war in Iraq. These articles were commissioned at the meeting of the 25 EU Foreign Ministers at Rhodes in May 2003.