John Peterson - Europe and America: The Prospects for Partnership

The conflict in Bosnia, disputes within the new World Trade Organization and debates about NATO enlargement all illustrate a single point: no relationship is more important in determining the state of international relations than the alliance between Europe and America. Contrary to accepted wisdom, John Peterson argues that the end of the Cold War actually enhances the prospects for partnership between the United States and the European Union. Based on original research and presented here in its second edition, this book offers a clear and penetrating analysis of the problems and opportunities facing the transatlantic alliance.

John Peterson is Jean Monnet Senior Lecturer at the University of Glasgow, UK, and Visiting Research Fellow at the Centre for European Policy Studies, Brussels, Belgium. He has taught previously at the universities of Oxford, Essex and York in the UK, at the Institut dEtudes Politiques in Grenoble, France, and at the University of California, Santa Barbara, USA.

The first edition of this book,
under the title Europe and America in the 1990s
was published by Edward Elgar in May 1993

This edition first published 1996
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN

Simulataneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
270 Madison Ave, New York NY 10016

Transferred to Digital Printing 2006

1996 John Peterson
John Peterson asserts his moral right to be identified as the author of this work

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book has been requested

ISBN: 0-415-14653-4 (hbk)
ISBN: 0-415-13864-7 (pbk)

Publishers Note
The publisher has gone to great lengths to ensure the quality of this reprint but points out that some imperfections in the original may be apparent

What follows is very much an interview-driven study. All interviews were contributed on a non-attributable basis to encourage frank and open responses and are cited as such in the text. A warm expression of thanks is due to those on both sides of the Atlantic who offered interviews when the first edition of this book was being researched between 1989 and 1992. Revisions for the present edition were informed by conversations with more than sixty interviewees who were consulted in connection with a report prepared for the European Commission on US foreign and security policies in 1995. I owe a special debt to Fraser Cameron for playing facilitator on this project and to his colleagues in the Commission for their comments during a brain-storming session on transatlantic relations in May 1995. Of course, any views expressed in this book are mine alone and do not represent the views of the Commission.

For the sake of simplicity, the term European Union and the abbreviation EU are often used to refer to the pre-Maastricht European Community. The same applies to the Organization (formerly Conference) for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). The term Atlantic Alliance is used throughout the book to refer to the membership of NATO while the Transatlantic Alliance denotes bilateral relations between the US and EU. Eastern Europe is employed as shorthand for the former Warsaw Pact states in Eastern and Central Europe. Monetary amounts are expressed in US dollars throughout the book and ECU values are calculated at a rate of $1.25 per ECU. Italics in cited passages indicates that the emphasis appears in the original.

Research leading to the books first edition was supported by a grant from the staff research fund of the Department of Politics at the University of York. Work on the second edition was facilitated by the European Commission, the Bertelsmann Foundation and the Centre for European Policy Studies in Brussels. Paul Najsarek, Clare McManus, Ricardo Gomez and, especially, Christine Matthews contributed an enormous amount to the study as my research assistants. The staffs at the documents library of the US Embassy in London and the European Commission office in Edinburgh provided crucial assistance in tracking down key documents.

Any errors or omissions are my own and not the fault of numerous colleagues in the US and Europe who contributed valuable insights and suggestions. Thanks are due to Phil Cerny of the University of Leeds, Youri Devuyst of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Patrick Dunleavy of the London School of Economics, Roy Ginsberg of Skidmore College, Wolfram Hanrieder of the University of California at Santa Barbara, Erik Jones of Central European University, Adrian Leftwich of the University of York, Hideki Mimura of Mitsui, Andrew Moravcsik of Harvard University, Thomas Risse-Kappen of the University of Konstanz, Rod Rhodes of the University of Newcastle, Neil Robinson and Hugh Ward of the University of Essex, Michael Smith of Loughborough University and Nicholas Ziegler of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Steve Breyman of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Mary M. McKenzie of the University of San Diego reminded me that there are no friends like the old friends. Elizabeth Bomberg of the University of Stirling read every word of the text and proved to be an indispensable editor. I am very glad that I married her.