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11 British J. Pol. & Int'l Rel. 1 (2009)

handle is hein.journals/bhjlplcs11 and id is 1 raw text is: doi: 10.1111/j.1467-856x.2008.00347.x Introduction David Hastings Dunn and Wyn Rees The inauguration of a new US president seems a topical moment to survey the transatlantic relationship, especially at the end of the tenure of such a controversial leader as George W. Bush. Several facets of the relationship are covered in this special issue: the 'values gap'; the institutional relationship; NATO; transatlantic economic interaction; the bilateral relationships between the US and key European powers; intelligence co-operation; homeland security; and efforts to combat climate change. The collection is authored by a group of European, largely British scholars, who were brought together at Launde Abbey in Leicestershire in the spring of 2008. The aim has been to give a European perspective on these issues. Any attempt to assess the legacy of the Bush administration has to grapple with the extent to which it has represented an aberration in transatlantic relations. The popular perception has been that the Bush period marked a fundamental change in US relations with Europe. This was symbolised above all by the crisis over the invasion of Iraq, an event Elizabeth Pond described as a 'near-death experience' for the Atlantic alliance (Pond 2004). The tenure of the 43rd US president has been widely interpreted as a switch by the United States towards unilateralism, a repu- diation of the multilateral consensus and the instigation of such a dramatic decline in amity towards its principal allies that it will not be repaired for many years to come. Yet the overwhelming tenor of the articles in this edition challenges this popular perception. Instead the policies of the Bush administration are taken to be largely consistent with underlying trends in US foreign policy since the end of the cold war-a view echoed in a recent book by Timothy Lynch and Robert Singh (2008). These trends were undoubtedly sharpened by the impact of 9/11 and the shock this inflicted upon the American political system, but they did not mark a fundamental change in the direction of US policy. For example, Bush eschewed multilateralism in key aspects of foreign policy but in doing so he was not chart- ing a radical new course. The implication is that President Obama will have less of a transformative impact in transatlantic relations than many in Europe have come to hope. The US-European relationship needs to be seen against a backcloth of rapid political and economic change within the international system-the end of the cold war, European integration and the rise of the Asia/Pacific region. The era of untram- melled western leadership of the world is gone. Rising economic superpowers like China, and to a lesser extent India and Brazil, and revived 'great powers' like Russia mean that the US and Europe cannot manage the international system in their own interests, nor indeed manage it at all without the engagement of these new actors. In security policy, the US and Europe are still the foremost actors, disproportion- ately powerful especially when acting in concert. Yet the nature of the security Jur:. Political Studies © 2008 The Authors. Journal compilation © 2008 Political Studies Association iiM Association BJPIR: 2009 VOL 11, 1-3

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