Fall 2013 - 63661 - PA388K - Advanced Topics in Public Policy

Transatlantic Relations in the 21st Century

The narrative of US-European relations in the first decade of the 21st century suggests a fraying alliance or a troubled marriage. According to newspaper headlines and think-tank articles, the US has moved from viewing Europe as a feeble appeaser to ignoring it altogether, while Europe has progressed from bemoaning the unilateral American hyperpower to blaming the US for all the perceived ills of liberal capitalism. Yet at the same time, a formidable transatlantic policy community has emerged, pursuing common policies on counter-terrorism, intellectual property rights, and airline safety. After outlining the important milestones of the transatlantic partnership during the Cold War and its immediate aftermath, this course will explore some of the major US-European disputes of the past decade and a half, in the realms of foreign policy, trade, and homeland security. It will trace the ways in which transatlantic relations have become increasingly "domesticized": in the sense that most current US-European issues can no longer aptly be described as foreign policy, but as international policy-making. The course will then analyze this transatlantic policy network from several angles: Is it effective? Is it democratic? Is it legitimate?