Britain, Europe and America: Pro-American, Pro-European

Europe and the US, two of the great unions that shape and define the modern world, are more closely allied than ever. We live within a shared community of values – respect for the rule of law, democracy and economic freedom are bound together not in a federal United States of Europe, but a union of nation–states that embody those values.

The World Today
7 minute READ

Since its early inception the EU has sought to create peace and stability, and the commitment of the US to that is greatly appreciated. Yet there are some articulate voices all too ready to argue that the assumptions we have made and I grew up with are out of date.

People on both sides of the ocean who claim the transatlantic relationship is redundant, and that NATO is simply a relic of the Cold War, either because, for the US, Asia and Latin America must now take precedence or, for Europe, because we don’t have so much use for our American partners anymore.

My background in politics is pro–American and Atlanticist. Not for me the temptations of neutralism, pacifism and unilateralism. I never believed that our friendship was only based on a shared mutual fear. Our relationship is richer than that – embedded in a common culture and a shared civilisation.

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