In 1943, Walter Lippmann described the Atlantic Ocean as an ‘inland sea’ around which a common people lived. Such a view of transatlantic relations assumed, of course, the existence of the West—a community of ideas and values, as well as states and people that shaped world history for the better part of three hundred years. We can no longer hold such an assumption without acknowledging the irony of it. The West has transformed, but into what? Since the end of the cold war, the old imperatives that defined hundreds of years of transatlantic relations—from colonialism and imperialism, to wars for nationalism and against ideologies—no longer exist. What are the imperatives now? The field of transatlantic studies needs to address such changes, not only by outlining new trajectories, but also by revising a conceptual framework that was largely created by the historical paradigms of the twentieth century.
There is no consensus on the nature and scope of transatlantic studies but two major categories can be identified: relational and comparative studies. Relational studies often refer to an actual space – a transatlantic region, or “the Atlantic rim,” which can be approached as a distinct area, culturally and politically, although other scholars take a more conceptual approach by referring to the West, the Western world, the Atlantic community, or the “the Anglosphere.” This brand of transatlantic studies is historically rooted and often operates with an implicit “Other” – the third world, China, the Islamic world, etc. However, the increasing significance of new “South Atlantic” regional powers such as South Africa and Brazil is just one of several factors that compel us to rethink this framework. To an even greater extent than previously, transatlantic relationships will be characterized by both cohesion and conflict as converging democratic values clash with conflicting economic interests.[1]
If bonds, commonalities and exchanges have defined much research within the field of transatlantic studies, another body of work compares political economies, welfare regimes, immigration and environmental policies, as well as religious, moral and cultural attitudes and their impact on political culture. Often, comparative research has been based on the identification of political and cultural dichotomies - Old World versus New World, religious America versus secular Europe, etc. The result has been predictions about a “wider Atlantic” and arguments that a growing asymmetry makes transatlantic cooperation still less relevant.
In the United States, this view often resonates with centuries old notions of Europe as “a dying system.” However, as Pertti Joenniemi among others has pointed out, political and ideological disagreements do not necessarily indicate weakening ties or a decline in the importance of transatlantic relations. Rather, the relationship has often gained strength from its internal differences. Such differences, as Joenniemi argues “can also be theorized as a central part of the glue that holds the community together.”[2]
We ask scholars to explore how this “competitive cooperation” plays out in specific policy areas, from corporate governance and financial regulation to environmental standards and matters of international security.
