Europe and U.S.: Eb and Flow

The title and theme of the new book by my friend and colleague Ronald Havenaar, published yesterday (in Dutch). It's a history and analysis of transatlantic relations since 1980, when Ronald Reagan's program (and European responses to it) began to push the Cold War allies a little further apart than had been the rule for most of the Cold War period. The thesis is about much more than policy--in fact, the emphasis is on differences in "mentality" (ways of viewing the world, of viewing history) that were (and are) at the base of differences between Americans and Europeans. This seems exactly where you want to start in trying to understand transatlantic relations. What I'll be curious to see is the exent to which the book also identifies historical and ideological commonalities between the two sides. (This in addition to common interests, whose existence seems obvious). These historical and ideological commonalities exist, of course, otherwise the Western alliance would not have come into being, nor would it have survived for almost sixty years. The question is, where's the emphasis? For it would be easy either to overemphasize transatlantic differences, or only to speak in general terms of "the West." The answer is political; it depends on what people on both sides of the Atlantic at any given time decide is the nature of the relationship. That's largely subjective, and dependent on public debates: who takes part, with what arguments. There is one thing everyone hopefully will consider: in today's interconnected, semi-chaotic world, it matters greatly where we come out on this. It is potentially decisive for a whole host of issues whether "Europe" and the U.S. manage to collaborate and find common approaches--not as the "West" against the rest, but as a major stabilizing force in the world. The fact that relations are difficult at times, or even that interests may diverge here and there, should not blind people on either side to this fact.
This Sunday, Havenaar will discuss his new book on VPRO tv. (You can read many of his brilliant book reviews of the past ten years--in Dutch--here).