The Trans-Atlantic Relationship in the Post-Cold War International Relations
The Trans-Atlantic Relationship in the Post-Cold War International Relations

Author(s): Michael Cox
Subject(s): International relations/trade, Post-Communist Transformation, Peace and Conflict Studies
Published by: Central European University (CEU) - Center for Policy Studies
Keywords: Trans-Atlantic Relationship; September 11; Afghanistan war; Irak War;
Summary/Abstract: This paper on international relations after the Cold War is divided into three main sections. The first deals with the period following the end of the Cold War and that almost forgotten era known as the post-Cold War period. As we shall see, this was a most complex, almost Janus-faced transitional moment, during which all seemed well at one remove, even though serious problems were beginning to undermine previous Transatlantic certainties at another. Next, we look at the period coinciding with Bush’s election and the decision to go to war with Afghanistan. Here we see the extent to which a set of problems carried over from an earlier era began to have far more serious consequences in another when the relationship was put to the test, and almost failed it completely. Finally, we come to the Iraq war when an already fractured alliance was nearly undermined in what must now rank as the most extended crisis in the history of the Transatlantic relationship.

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