Washington, D.C. — Defending the European Union, NATO, and other transatlantic institutions will require a robust, forward-looking reform agenda, according to a new joint report from scholars at the Center for American Progress (CAP) and American Enterprise Institute (AEI).
The current populist backlash against international cooperation, multilateralism, and the transatlantic alliance was long in the making. European allies failed to invest in their military capabilities and military interventions in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Libya mired the United States and Europe in long and costly wars.
President Donald Trump’s assault on Europe as a partner is being met by growing anti-Americanism across the Atlantic. “A growing cohort of political leaders seek to weaken European and transatlantic bonds and to accept rather than stand up to Russia’s aggression,” said Vikram Singh, senior fellow at CAP. “This report explores ways to reinvigorate the transatlantic partnership in a politically sustainable, even populist, way.”
Danielle Pletka, Senior Vice President of AEI, noted, “Even when they instinctually diagnose the problem correctly, the authoritarian populists’ proposed remedies ultimately harm the patient. Undermining alliances, trade wars, appeasement of dictators and absolutist, often racist, anti-immigration policies all end badly for free nations.”
The report recognizes the need for change and argues for reform of institutions vital to global peace and security. NATO must adapt to a new security environment. The European Union needs to stop stumbling from one crisis to the next through reform and fealty to its founding values. Both the political right and left need to innovate to ensure economic openness remains a cornerstone of broad prosperity.
Read the report: “Partnership in Peril: The Populist Assault on the Transatlantic Community” by Vikram Singh, Dalibor Rohac, and Danielle Pletka
For more information, or to speak to an expert, please contact Colin Seeberger at 202-741-6292 or [email protected], or Sam Hananel at 202-478-6327 or [email protected].