Conversation on Transatlanticism and Europe Blog

by Allison Wheeler (University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign) This blog post was written for the course "Current Issues in Global and EU Affairs", which took place from February 11-May 9, 2019. Secretary Pompeo and Secretary General Stoltenberg deliver opening remarks at the NATO Foreign Ministerial Image Credit: US Department of State/Ron Przysucha,  Public Domain This year, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), celebrated its 70 th birthday.   Founded in 1949, NATO has bound western Europe and North America since almost immediately following World War II and has created a close defense alliance between what has grown from just 12 countries to now 29 countries.   NATO at this moment in history is at the center of a potentially pivotal conflict for the transatlantic partnership between the US and the EU. The EU, regarded most prominently and historically as a normative and economic power, has heavily relied on the “hard power” th...

by Léa Gaudron and Nicolas Dünkelsbühler (KU Leuven) This blog post was written for the course "Current Issues in Global and EU Affairs", which took place from February 11-May 9, 2019. Schwarzenegger meeting with Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern in 2017. Image Credit: SPÖ/Zach-Kiesling, via Creative Commons Being born in a small town in post-war Austria in 1947 is an unlikely start for anyone to live the American Dream. Arnold Schwarzenegger, however, born as the second son of a poor and conservative family in a rural area near Graz, with a father who had a Nazi past,   made it. He also became an important figure in transatlantic relations, showing that it is possible to reach the highest ranks of politics in the US, while having an influence on the political and cultural sphere in Europe. Schwarzenegger’s success story started when he moved to the United States. He had been interested in bodybuilding since age 15; at the end of his career he won Mister Universe ...

by Jordan Evans-Kaplan (University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign) This blog post was written for the course "Current Issues in Global and EU Affairs", which took place from February 11-May 9, 2019. NATO Military Spending by member state GDP. Image Credit: Creative Commons The EU has always been and will likely always be the most key strategic partner to the US regarding NATO. However, the future of NATO remains cloudy amid a disruptive US presidency, and critiques of NATO on both sides of the Atlantic. Despite opposition and naysayers, it is quite an achievement of the European project that NATO has managed to exist this long, as it represents a solution to a problem from a bygone era. Created as a bulwark against Soviet aggression, this strategic partnership has stood the test of time since its creation in 1949 and remains the cornerstone of US-EU military cooperation. But what does the future hold for this critical component of transatlantic integration? NATO’s...