Transatlantic Security Cooperation

The military campaign in Iraq served to highlight the different philosophies that already separated Europe from the United States in a number of areas: Europe does not share the US approach of linking the task of eliminating international terrorism with other problems such as that of dealing with ‘rogue states’ — which are seen as posing a threat to international peace — or with broader issues such as the question of restructuring the political landscape in the Middle East and in countries around the world. The war in Iraq would appear to have been the first time the new US national security strategy was implemented, suggesting that from now on pre-emptive military action can be a legitimate option even without a mandate or authorization from the United Nations. For a large majority of European countries, the UN Security Council must have the final word when it comes to authorizing any use of military force. As a result of what happened in the UN Security Council over the Iraq question, the US administration will now be reluctant to allow any multinational body to influence the use of its military forces. The US administration is likely to bypass multilateral institutions such as the United Nations or NATO and seek a coalition of nations willing to support its de facto unilateralist policy. The ambiguous US position regarding European efforts to develop a more independent security and defence policy might turn into open hostility. Europe has so far been unable to provide the United States with a credible alternative response to global threats to international peace. These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.