Wednesday, July 31 at 2:00 pm
The Transatlantic Relationship Has Been Irreparably Damaged
The transatlantic relationship has been a hallmark of the liberal international order for decades and, for many, a source of global peace and stability. But rising populism and inequality, coupled with surprising election outcomes in the United States and Europe, may signal an end to this historic relationship. Some worry that President Trump's support for Brexit, attacks on NATO, and tariff threats against the EU mark a significant departure from past administrations. And anti-establishment sentiments are growing on the other side of the Atlantic, too, as nationalist leaders gain ground across Europe. But others aren’t as worried, saying the relationship has weathered turbulent times before, including the Iraq War. As long as the U.S. and Europe face common threats, including China, election-hacking, and terrorism, they argue, the bond will remain strong. Is the transatlantic relationship as we know it doomed? Or will it prevail for decades to come?
The Debaters:
Federiga Bindi
Professor, University of Rome Tor Vergata
Dr. Federiga Bindi holds the Jean Monnet chair at the University of Rome Tor Vergata, where she was the founding director of the EU Center of Excellence. Dr. Bindi is also a nonresident scholar at Carnegie Endowment and the director of the Foreign Policy Initiative at the Institute for Women Policy Research in Washington, D.C. Previously, she was a visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution and John Hopkins University, and she served as director of the Italian Cultural Institute in Brussels. Dr. Bindi has published eight books, including “The Foreign Policy of the European Union: Assessing Europe’s Role in the World,” “Analyzing European Union Politics,” “Italy and the EU,” and, most recently, the 2019 book “Europe and America: The End of Transatlantic Relations?”
Constanze Stelzenmüller
Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution
Dr. Constanze Stelzenmüller is the inaugural Robert Bosch senior fellow at the Center on the United States and Europe at the Brookings Institution. Prior to joining Brookings, she was a senior transatlantic fellow and Berlin office director with the German Marshall Fund of the United States. Her areas of expertise include, among others, transatlantic relations, German foreign policy, and the European Union’s foreign, security, and defense policy. Stelzenmüller was a writer and editor at the German weekly Die Zeit from 1994 to 2005, and her essays and articles have appeared in a wide range of publications, including Foreign Affairs and the Financial Times.
John J. Mearsheimer
American Political Scientist & Professor, University of Chicago
John J. Mearsheimer is the R. Wendell Harrison distinguished service professor of political science at the University of Chicago and one of the nation’s most influential political scientists. A New York Times best-selling author, he has written six books about security issues and international politics, including “The Tragedy of Great Power Politics,” “Why Leaders Lie: The Truth about Lying in International Politics,” and most recently, “The Great Delusion: Liberal Dreams and International Realities.” Mearsheimer has won several teaching awards and his work is frequently taught to, and read by, twenty-first century students of political science.
Carla Norrlof
Professor, University of Toronto
Carla Norrlof is an associate professor of political science at the University of Toronto, where she researches international cooperation with a special focus on great powers, and in particular, U.S. hegemony. She is the author of “America’s Global Advantage: US Hegemony and International Cooperation,” and her works on cooperation, hegemony, and the international political economy of trade, investment, and conflict have been published widely, including in the Cambridge University Press, MIT Press, and Oxford University Press. A Swedish national, born in Addis Ababa, Norrlof has lived in Stockholm, Gaborone, New York, Paris, Geneva, and Toronto.
Host:
John Donvan
Host and Moderator
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