03 July 2008

GPPi contributes to “American Days” discussion on future of EU and US foreign policy

GPPi Associate Director Thorsten Benner contributed to a panel discussion on the future of the EU and US foreign policies organized by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation and the Europe Center Baden-Württemberg. The event took place in the Rathaus Stuttgart on 1 July as part of the “American Days” taking place from 26 June to 6 July 2008. The American Days are organized by the James-F-Byrnes Institute in cooperation with the city of Stuttgart and the Robert Bosch Foundation.

The panel discussion “Zukünftige außenpolitische Konzepte in Europa und den USA” featured Rainer Arnold, Defense Policy spokesperson for the Social Democrats in the German Bundestag and Andrew Denison, Director of Transatlantic Networks.

In his contribution, GPPi’s Thorsten Benner argued that rather than idly waiting for the next US president, it is high time for the EU to develop a comprehensive vision of what Europe wants to achieve in cooperation with the next US administration. Benner stressed that the new US administration will both welcome and expect the EU to develop suggestions for taking forward transatlantic cooperation in addressing global challenges. With both a McCain and an Obama administration ready to listen to their allies’ suggestions and mindful of the limits of the US going it alone, the EU is expected to make concrete suggestions for a transatlantic agenda after the US elections. These suggestions should be based on a “Global Atlanticism” that rejects two flawed visions of the EU’s global role: the empty neo-Gaullist vision of Europe as a sheer counterweight to the US in a multipolar order and that of the EU as a pure “soft power.”

Benner stressed that there is a great danger that the EU will miss out on this opportunity because of concentrating on introspection after the failed Irish referendum. In addition, the German elections in 2009 do not stand to have a positive impact on EU’s global leadership since the German candidates are unlikely to support an ambitious global agenda.

For more information, please contact Thorsten Benner

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