The Gaps

Detlef Junker exposed the 'gaps' in transatlantic relations. On Friday, 3 June, he delivered the keynote address to the conference entitled, 'The Market Gap, the War Gap, and the God Gap.' In short, he argued that the United States has grown increasingly distant from its European relatives because conditions that have prevailed since the end of the cold war have exposed different approaches to economics, war, and religion. The 'Market Gap' compares the growth of (and debates over) the welfare state in Europe and the lack of a safety net (and the inability to create one) in the U.S. The 'War Gap' identifies the demilitarization of Europe and the militarization of American power as a source of almost unending tension when crises arise around the world. The 'God Gap' suggests that Europe's abandonment of religious devotion and American devotion to religion plays havoc with how both transatlantic partners understand their common religious and intellectual legacy.

The fact that these gaps exist suggested a larger point: that there still is a thing we should understand as 'The West.' A common heritage born of Christendom and the Enlightenment still provides existential meaning to both sides of the Atlantic. However, as Junker made clear, two different, though not necessarily opposing, interpretations of that common heritage have arisen as the threat posed by Soviet communism faded away. What we know contend with are two very rich, powerful, and proud sections of the world wrestling with problems from financial crises to war that call unified action. The question is, can such unity prevail in time to help 'the West' continue its profound legacy of global leadership?

Coercion, Cohesion and Conflict: the Future of the Transatlantic Community

In October 2009, the Norwegian Nobel Committee surprised the world by awarding U.S. President Barack Obama its peace prize. The committee explained that the award was as much for Obama’s promise as for his achievements—for his “extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.” Thus, the Obama administration has signaled a shift not only in political priorities but a new approach to international relations which includes a larger reliance on formal channels of cooperation than its predecessor. This also provides an opportunity for the reinvigoration and expansion of transatlantic relations.


Transatlantic relations are not, and have never been, only a question of north-north relations, or of the US and Western Europe. Historically, Latin America is closely connected to Europe, particularly through the Ibero-American community. Furthermore, the political development in Latin America, especially in the last decade, has caused important changes and increasing complexity in inter-American as well as transatlantic relations, as, for example, in the global strategy of Brazil’s president, Lula da Silva.


The present series of workshops and the conference address why that community matters and what makes it fragile, conflicted, and contested. The aim is to engage in a discussion of transatlantic relations and interaction on multiple levels—from the existential to practical—in order to provide communities inside as well as outside academia with insight into perhaps the most important political, diplomatic, military, and cultural relationship of the last 100 years.