Transatlantic policy 'poorly coordinated and half-baked`

12 July 2006

Key messages:
- Transatlantic relations under Bush worse than at any time since WWII
- US and Europe can agree policy objectives - but disagree on how to achieve them
- Policy, political initiatives and military operations are 'poorly coordinated' and 'half-baked'

As George W Bush visits Germany this week, new research, published by Chatham House, claims the deterioration in transatlantic relations that has occurred under his presidency is worse than at any time since the second world war. Triggered by Iraq, the tensions have also caused deep divisions within Europe that are poorly understood and that could further fragment and paralyse the unity of purpose and action of the transatlantic security community.

'Divided West: European Security and the Transatlantic Relationship, by Tuomas Forsberg and Graeme P. Herd, argues that although US and European leaders can agree policy aims and objectives, they cannot agree on the methods to achieve those aims. This means that the once powerful and united West now resembles an unstable and dysfunctional half-way house defined by policy, political initiatives and military operations that are poorly coordinated and half-baked.

The authors predict that in the future the most likely form of Western action on a range of foreign policy issues will be compartmentalised and differentiated. Action will be taken through ad-hoc coalitions - as in the Iraq war - where institutional competition will be as prevalent as cooperation. However, they argue that while Europe is fractured on foreign policy, it has the potential to be constructive rather than destructive when it comes to the management of key regional and global security concerns.

Dr Graeme P. Herd, co-author of Divided West said:

'Lame-duck US and European leaders identify the same strategic transnational threats, but disagree on how most effectively to manage them. In France President Chirac is politically paralysed following the failure of the Constitutional Treaty and mired deep in governmental scandals. In the UK Tony Blair's foreign policy competence is severely questioned following the invasion of Iraq on a false prospectus. Further, the timing and manner of Gordon Brown's succession threatens to turn tragedy into farce.

In the US President Bush faces a domestic political backlash against the reality of a poorly performing imperial presidency: corruption scandals tying a Republican Congress to lobbyists, incipient civil war in Iraq, Katrina, torture and wire-tapping without court approval are just some of the issues that undermine his ability to lead.'

Notes for editors:

Divided West: European Security and the Transatlantic Relationship by Tuomas Forsberg and Graeme P Herd is a Chatham House Paper published by Blackwell Publishing, July 2006.

Interview bids with the authors and further quotes:
Sam Hardy
Chatham House Press Office
+44 (0) 20 7957 5739
+44 (0) 7946 642 205

Dr Graeme Herd, co-author
+41 (0) 22 906 1614
+41 (0) 22 906 1600

Please note that Dr Tuomas Forsberg, co-author, is travelling and unavailable for comment at this time.

About the authors:
Dr Tuomas Forsberg is Acting Professor of World Politics at the University of Helsinki and adjunct professor at the University of Lapland. His research has dealt primarily with European security issues, focusing on ESDP, Germany, Russia and Northern Europe, and he has been published in journals including Co-operation and Conflict, European Security, Geopolitics, and the Journal of Peace Research.

Dr Graeme P. Herd is a resident Faculty Member at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy and an Associate Fellow of the International Security Programme Chatham House. He has published extensively on aspects of contemporary security politics.

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