Panelists:
EVA NOWOTNY, chair of the Board of the University of Vienna, former Austrian Ambassador in the USA, France and the UK
HANNES SWOBODA, President of the IIP, former MEP
DAN HAMILTON, Director of the Global Europe Program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Austrian Marshall Plan Foundation Distinguished Fellow,
Moderation:
STEPHANIE FENKART, Director of the IIP
Content:
The United States’ role in the world has undergone some profound changes lately. Its status of an international leader, the great power in a unipolar world and a global agenda-setter has been increasingly questioned and challenged both domestically and internationally. One can speak of an ongoing global structure shift where transformations within and around the United States warrant close attention and careful analysis. The IIP has launched a series of discussions titled USA and the World that aim to shed some light on such pressing issues as the status of arms control negotiations, the transatlantic relations, and the upcoming presidential elections in the United States.
Historically, Europe has had a positive image of the United States. The US intervened in both world wars, provided the Marshall Plan Aid to Europe after 1945 and took the lead among the Western countries in the confrontation with the Soviet bloc. The Vietnam War was considered an outlier, the Iraq War already less so. US President Trump has alienated the Europeans in many ways. He withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal, the Paris climate deal, the INF treaty, the Open Skies agreement, and attacked the WHO as well as the WTO. NATO members in Europe have been concerned with whether the US will stay committed to the alliance, as all this runs against the Europeans’ belief in multilateralism and international institutions. In times when divisions between the US and Europe have become more visible, can the November election change this state of affairs? How much common ground is left between transatlantic partners? Will Europe’s perception of the US change permanently or can the old relationship still be repaired?