Divided West

This book analyses the genesis and process through which transatlantic strategic dissonance now defines a divided West. It contends that constructive strategic dissonance has the potential to best manage a complex and pressing global security agenda.

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• Reflects on the bitter disputes that have crystallized across the Atlantic after 9/11 and the rise of terrorist, WMD and failed state threats.
  
• Structured around the concepts of ‘Atlantic’, ‘Core’, ‘New’ ‘Non-aligned’ and ‘Periphery’ Europe that have emerged in the wake of these disputes.
  
• Identifies the trends and factors that have driven and could further propel the Euro-Atlantic security community towards different futures.
  
• Analyses the security policy implications of each scenario for states within this region.

Acknowledgments.

About the Authors.

1. The Divided West: Challenges, Obstacles and Dilemmas.

2. Theory and Transatlantic Crisis.

3. ‘Atlantic Europe’: The UK, the US and European Security.

4. ‘Core Europe’: Germany's National Interest, Transatlantic Relations and European Security.

5. ‘New Europe’: And Transatlantic Relations.

6. ‘Non-Aligned Europe’ and Transatlantic Relations.

7. ‘Periphery Europe’: Russia and Transatlantic Security.

8. Transatlantic Futures in an Age of Strategic Dissonance.

Notes.

Bibliography.

Index.

'This well-structured, crisply written volume is one of the best – and certainly one of the most succinct and conceptually interesting – to have been authored on that battered entity known as the transatlantic relationship. Quietly but effectively challenging the official myth that the crisis is now past, Forsberg and Herd reveal beyond all possible doubt that the trauma that arose as a result of Iraq and 9/11 still remains unresolved and, in official circles at least, little understood. Divorce may not be on the cards just yet. Nonetheless, difficult and problematic times lie ahead. A sobering, indeed essential read for policy-makers and academics on both sides of an ever-widening Atlantic.'
Michael Cox, London School of Economics

‘Divided West makes a unique contribution to a vast literature on transatlantic relations. Rather than complaining how bad things are, the authors offer a lucid theoretical framework in which the current transatlantic imbroglio is clinically dissected. It is clearly the most thorough and thought-provoking book available in the field.’
Peter van Ham, Clingendael Institute, The Hague

‘This book makes uneasy but essential reading for Atlanticists and Europeanists. At the interface of theory and policy, this superb analysis plunges deep into the divide that is today's West and pulls no punches about the implications of strategic dissonance. It is quite simply a must read for anyone who cares deeply about the West and Europe's place within it.’
Julian Lindley-French, Centre for Applied Policy, University of Munich

Dr Tuomas Forsberg is Acting Professor of World Politics at the University of Helsinki and adjunct professor at the University of Lapland. Between 2002 and 2004 he was Professor of Western European Security Studies at the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. Prior to that he worked as senior researcher and acting director at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs. He gained his PhD at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth in 1998. His research has dealt primarily with European security issues, focusing on ESDP, Germany, Russia and Northern Europe and he has published in journals including Co-operation and Conflict, European Security, Geopolitics, Journal of Peace Research, Political Science Quarterly, Review of International Studies and Security Dialogue. His most recent publication is Finland and Crises: From the Years of Danger to the Terrorist Attacks (2003).

Dr Graeme P. Herd is a resident Faculty Member at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy and is involved with expert training in comprehensive international peace and security policy for mid-career diplomats, military officers, and civil servants from foreign, defence, and other relevant ministries, as well as from international organizations. He is also an Associate Fellow of the International Security Programme at Chatham House. Between 2002 and 2005 he was Professor of Civil-Military Relations, Associate Director, Senior Executive Seminar and Faculty Director of Research at the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. He has published extensively on aspects of contemporary security politics, particularly on post-Soviet space, in journals including Armed Forces & Society, Co-operation and Conflict, European Security, Journal of Peace Research, Journal of Slavic Military Studies, Mediterranean Politics, Political Science Quarterly, Security Dialogue, and The World Today. His books include Russia and the Regions: Strength through Weakness (2003) and Soft Security Threats and European Security (2005), co-edited with Anne Aldis. His latest book is forthcoming in 2006 and focuses on countering ideological support for terrorism.

9/11 and its aftermath helped make more visible divergent transatlantic approaches to the legitimacy of military intervention, the utility of ‘coalitions of the willing’, the effectiveness of regime change and the use of coercive force within the international system. The Iraq War and the strategic dissonance it generated led many to warn against the danger of transatlantic strategic divorce, and push for transatlantic strategic realignment.

The book is structured around an analysis of five Europes - ‘Atlantic’, ‘Core’, ‘New’, ‘Non-Aligned’ and ‘Periphery’ – which appeared to have consolidated in this period. It argues that transatlantic strategic dissonance will be an enduring feature of the Euro-Atlantic security environment as it reflects economic and military power differences, the shifting values and identities and the policy and institutional preferences of all five Europes and the US. The book concludes by arguing that transatlantic strategic dissonance and a divided West contains the potential to constitute a viable platform for the constructive management of the global security agenda, as well as regulate relations within this security community.