Bush and Europe
Bush and Europe
This chapter examines the relationship between Europe and the United States under President George W. Bush during the latter's two terms in office. In his 2003 book, Of Paradise and Power, Robert Kagan claims that a permanent rift has developed between the United States and Europe, based on gaping power differentials in the wake of the Soviet Union's demise. It would be a dangerous exaggeration to see the intellectual Kagan and the dominant foreign policy decision-makers within the Bush administration as entirely synonymous. This chapter argues that the conflict between America and Europe were predominantly the product of the Bush administration's beliefs, and that there is nothing unusual in the history of transatlantic relations about such disputes. It considers the disagreement between the two parties over Bush's decision to invade Iraq, the war on terror and the military issue of what to do with prisoners captured on the battlefield, and the impact of Gordon Brown's victory as Prime Minister of Britain on British–US relations.
Keywords: George W. Bush, United States, Europe, transatlantic relations, Iraq, war on terror, Gordon Brown, Britain, Robert Kagan, foreign policy
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