Unified in response to rising powers? China, Russia and EU-US relations

ABSTRACT

How do the EU and the US respond to rising powers making territorial claims? Are they unified in their approaches, and if not, where do their policies diverge? Transatlantic unity or dissent in response to main geopolitical issues has implications for our understanding of transatlantic security relations and for the future of global power-relations more broadly. We explore EU-US positions and responses to Chinese advances in the South China Sea and Russia’s actions in the Ukraine. Two hypotheses guide our analysis: First, that they cooperate to balance against these powers, hence strengthening transatlantic relations. Secondly, that the EU is developing policies independently of the US, thus weakening EU-US relations. Our findings suggest that despite a general coherence of American and European stance in both cases, the level of coordination varies. Instead, we find signs of weakening EU-US security relations as the EU develops a more autonomous policy vis-à-vis the US.

KEYWORDS:

• Transatlantic relations
• security policy
• emerging powers
• European Union

Acknowledgments

Previous versions of this paper have been presented at a workshop at the Institute of European Studies at UC Berkeley in December 2016 and at the ECPR conference in Oslo September 2017. We are grateful to the participants and in particular Heidi Maurer for valuable comments and suggestions. We would also like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their insightful feedback.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. https://www.munplanet.com/articles/international-relations/on-international-relations-theory-and-practice-a-special-interview-with-professor-stephen-walt.

2. Euractiv 21/11/2013.

3. European Council, 29/03/14.

4. http://edition.cnn.com/2014/03/26/politics/ukraine-crisis/index.html.

5. Russia was expelled from G8 after its annexation of Crimea.

6. http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/polish-foreign-minister-discusses-weak-eu-position-in-ukraine-crisis-a-957812.html.

7. Sweden, Riksdagen, 2014.

8. https://www.politico.com/story/2014/03/barack-obama-russia-crimea-105043.

9. German Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 19/03/14.

10. Bundestag, 07/05/14.

11. German Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 2014.

12. Why is the South China Sea contentious? BBC News 12/7-2016, http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-pacific-13748349.

13. http://foreignpolicy.com/2011/10/11/americas-pacific-century/.

14. https://www.defense.gov/News/Article/Article/614488/us-outlines-asia-pacific-maritime-security-strategy/.

15. https://www.defense.gov/News/Article/Article/614488/us-outlines-asia-pacific-maritime-security-strategy/.

16. Why is the South China Sea contentious? BBC News 12/7-2016, http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-pacific-13748349.

17. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-europe-asia-bank/u-s-urges-allies-to-think-twice-before-joining-china-led-bank-iduskbn0md0b320150317.

18. http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/03/23/chinas-transatlantic-wedge/?wp_login_redirect=0.

Additional information

Funding

This work was conducted by Guri Rosén on this project was financed by Norges Forskningsråd (EURODIV-project).