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A BIT OF BACKGROUND. Who has more people? The US or the EU? US = 300 million; EU = 491 million; India = 900 million; China = 1.2 billion Which country in the world had the largest number of exports last year? Who has a larger GDP, Europe or the US?:
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A BIT OF BACKGROUND • Who has more people? The US or the EU? • US = 300 million; EU = 491 million; India = 900 million; China = 1.2 billion • Which country in the world had the largest number of exports last year? • Who has a larger GDP, Europe or the US?: • Europe = $PPP 14.9 T; US = 14.2 T; China = 7.9 T • Compare the US and Europe over the last 5 decades… Which model is obviously better? • Does it even makes sense to talk about “Europeans”?What is the Lisbon treaty, why is it so significant, and why might Tony Blair become the first president of Europe?
EUROPE & THE UNITED STATES: ALWAYS FRIENDS? • US-Euro animosity at the beginning: Wars, playing off splits, & efforts to end their imperialism • WW1: America as an ambivalent and belated friend… Who left the party early when she didn’t get her way • WW2: The US as a legitimate savior of Europe and the decades of political capital this provided • The Cold War—Europe, the marginally grateful free-rider & America, the happy, benevolent hegemon • The Marshall Plan • The formation of NATO and the UN’s Security Council • The American model of trade and global economy benefited all but especially the emergence of the early EU • Did the end of the CW change everything? Will the Lisbon treaty?
US VS THEM: ARE WE NOW COMPETITORS? • Who is “us”? Not just Ds vs. Rs, but also State (soft power) vs. realists vs. neocons • Who are “they”? Brit/Poland: Atlantists; The French(or just their media?), Germany & most of Europe: Muscular multilateralists • Do they hate us or just our leaders? Reagan vs. Bush-Clinton vs. Bush 2 vs. Obama • Realism and our interests: Divide and conquer the rising competitor…; Their interests: Balance American hegemony • Differences in the “appropriate” instruments of FP: Military vs. diplomacy (Comp. adv=favored route) • Humanitarian intervention: Are they are more skeptical in practice (our “dogmatism” vs. their “empiricism”?) • Different lessons of history: Their emphasis on consensus and concessions vs. our unilateralism/ad-hoc coalitions • Different values regarding productivity and capitalism: Lifestyles, social networks, environmental issues, trade • Does a more democratic Europe create even more problems for US/Europe relations? Changes in the EU may harm US-Euro relations