The transatlantic alliance is America's most important global
relationship. It is the springboard for U.S. global involvement,
enabling America to play the decisive role of arbiter in Eurasia--the
world's central arena of power--and it creates a coalition that is
globally dominant in all the key dimensions of power and influence.
America and Europe together serve as the axis of global stability,
the locomotive of the world's economy, and the nexus of global
intellectual capital as well as technological innovation. Just as
important, they are both home to the world's most successful
democracies. How the U.S.-European relationship is managed,
therefore, must be Washington's highest priority.
In the longer run, the appearance of a truly politically united
Europe would entail a basic shift in the distribution of global
power, with consequences as far-reaching as those generated by the
collapse of the Soviet empire and by the subsequent emergence of
America's global preponderance. The impact of such a Europe on
America's own position in the world and on the Eurasian power balance
would be enormous (see the table on the following page for an
indication of how a united Europe would dwarf the United States),
inevitably generating severe two-way transatlantic tensions.
Presently, neither side is well equipped to handle such potentially
significant change. Americans generally do not fully comprehend the
European desire for an upgraded status in the relationship and they
lack a clear appreciation of the diversity of European views
concerning the United States. Europeans often fail to grasp both the
spontaneity and the sincerity of America's commitment to Europe,
infusing into their perception of America's desire to sustain the
Euro-Atlantic alliance a European penchant for Machiavellian
duplicity.
