28.10.2024

Livestream online: »Reden wir über Europa! USA und Europa: Eine Beziehung vor der Wahl« (in German)

The livestream of the panel discussion in the run-up to the US elections at the IEG was recorded and is available on YouTube (see link below). The panellists Prof. Dr Mita Banerjee from the Obama Institute at JGU Mainz, Prof. Dr Philipp Gassert from the University of Mannheim and Andrew Hammel, US lawyer, author, freelance translator and journalist, discussed various aspects of the election and its potential impact on Europe in a well-versed and engaging manner. Apl. Prof. Dr John Carter Wood, IEG, moderated the evening after a welcoming address by Director Prof. Dr Johannes Paulmann.



On 5 November, a new president will be elected in the USA, an election that could have a significant impact on relations with Europe and on developments in Europe itself. In our panel discussion on 23 October, we would like to shed light on the key areas that will shape European-American relations in the coming decade.

Despite many differences and recurring tensions, Europe and America have managed to build a significant post-war partnership, encompassing military, economic and cultural elements. As leaders of the ‘West’ - as many saw it - they shaped a world order that appeared to be a stable world system at the end of the 1990s. An expanding economic liberalism, progressive cultural developments, a rules-based diplomatic order and an increasingly borderless, digital world culture characterised this ‘world order’.

In the 21st century, this order seems to have begun to falter. Growing threats - and outright aggression - from Russia, China and Iran, the increasingly successful political extremes on both sides of the Atlantic and potentially divergent political interests have revealed new tensions in the transatlantic consensus. In some cases, the challenges on both sides are similar (whether in relation to immigration, Chinese competition, technological change or global warming) but are being addressed in different ways. In other cases, events have revealed fundamental asymmetries (e.g. in terms of military power) that, while not new, have taken on a new urgency in the face of a more dangerous threat environment.