DIIS Working Paper
Transatlantic Relations
Difference within Similarity: Transatlantic Relations as a 'Community of Neighbours'
How are the bonds of association between Europe and America best comprehended and accounted for? What explains the tensions that have been there over the recent years and what are the prospects for improvement with the transition from President Bush to Barak Obama?
Research in the field of international relations has encountered difficulties in addressing these issues and the argument pursued here is that deep down these problems pertain to theory. Thus, my aim has been one of trying to break some new ground for theorization it argues that the Realist, Liberal and Constructivist accounts have so far come up short in terms of providing up-to-date and broadly acceptable answers. With the dominant theories focusing largely on either external enmity or internal homogeneity, difference internal to the relationship has too easily been conceptualized as destabilizing and seen as representing a rupture. In contrast, my point is that while elements of enmity and homogeneity are important, communities such as the Atlantic one are also critically brought together by their internal differences. The contribution then aims, in view of the difference-based dynamics at play and foundational for the Atlantic communality, to complement and provide a corrective to the more established theorization of that togetherness.
Research in the field of international relations has encountered difficulties in addressing these issues and the argument pursued here is that deep down these problems pertain to theory. Thus, my aim has been one of trying to break some new ground for theorization it argues that the Realist, Liberal and Constructivist accounts have so far come up short in terms of providing up-to-date and broadly acceptable answers. With the dominant theories focusing largely on either external enmity or internal homogeneity, difference internal to the relationship has too easily been conceptualized as destabilizing and seen as representing a rupture. In contrast, my point is that while elements of enmity and homogeneity are important, communities such as the Atlantic one are also critically brought together by their internal differences. The contribution then aims, in view of the difference-based dynamics at play and foundational for the Atlantic communality, to complement and provide a corrective to the more established theorization of that togetherness.
Regions
United States
Difference within similarity
transatlantic relations as a "Community of Neighbours"