This optional course examines the key geo-strategic, economic and structural challenges for the transatlantic partners in a radically changing global order, both from within the still crucial bilateral relationship and from outside. After an introductory session including a review of the history of US-European relations during the Cold War, the first part of the course will analyse the structural changes and paradigm shifts in a multipolar global order and how they have affected transatlantic relations. The second part will analyse the driving forces behind the differences and commonalities in the strategic outlook among both sides and how these translate into foreign (security) policies and open disputes. There has been much soul searching among the allies about finding the right strategic answers to common threats and challenges in the world in recent years. At the same time western dominance is waning and particularly China’s rise has caused a global power redistribution. In the third part, the course will examine transatlantic economic links and explain why both sides have developed partly different instruments to shape and manage the global economy; this section will also raise questions about states increasingly practising power politics by economic means, the future of the global trading system and supply chains, and the impact of Covid-19 on the transatlantic economy. Finally, other relevant global challenges, such as energy security, will also be dealt with. The fourth part will explore how the future transatlantic agenda will be shaped by emerging powers, such as China and Russia.
Professor: Stefan FRÖHLICH