The Transatlantic Relationship and the Russia-Ukraine War Veronica Anghel 1,2, * and Erik Jones 1 1 The Robert Schuman Center of Advanced Studies, European University Institute, Via Giovanni Boccaccio, 121, 50133 Florence, Italy 2 Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, Europe Center, Via Beniamino Andreatta 3, 40126 Bologna, Italy *Corresponding author: Email: veronica.anghel@eui.eu Abstract The Russia-Ukraine war triggered a new burst of solidarity across the Atlantic. The reactivation of the battered NATO alliance came easily under the pressure of an external shock. Yet, pulling together to react to Russia’s belligerence is not sufficient to announce a new era of transatlantic partnership. The reason lies in the different interests that underpin American and European policies such as reliance on economic sanctions, the promotion of democracy, NATO strategy towards Russia, and economic coordination. Loosely sharing common values is not enough to reinforce the transatlantic relationship. Neither is a decision to stop the atrocities that Russia is committing against Ukrainians. Western leadership requires a coherent vision of Western interests. In the new world order, such coherence cannot be taken for granted. Keywords: transatlantic relationship; Russia–Ukraine War; strategic autonomy; European security; democracy vs. autocracy The transatlantic relationship deteriorated significantly over the past three dec- ades. Prior to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, both Europeans and Americans would have been hard pressed to define an overarching com- mon purpose. 1 Their security policies, economic agendas, and ideological com- mitments remained compatible in the short run, but too uncoordinated to provide a joint vision for a changing global order. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the security alliance that united the two sides of the Atlantic, had been drifting in the aftermath of the Global War on Terror that followed the 11 September 2001 attacks. Europeans and Americans continued to share values—probably more closely with one-another than with any other part of the world—but those shared values no longer Veronica Anghel is Assistant Professor at the Robert Schuman Center for Advanced Studies at the European University Institute. Her research focuses on European integration and democracy building and has been pub- lished in West European Politics, Political Communication, the Journal of European Public Policy, and the European Journal of Political Research amongst others (veronica.anghel@eui.eu). Erik Jones is Director of the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies at the European University Institute. He specializes in European integration and international political economy, and his work has appeared in Comparative Political Studies and International Affairs amongst others (erik.jones@eui.eu). 1 Riccardo Alcaro, “Europe’s Struggle in the Fraying Transatlantic Order,” Survival 61, no. 6 (2019): 77–88, https://doi.org/10.1080/00396338.2019.1688568. © The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Academy of Political Science. All rights reserved. For commercial re-use, please contact reprints@oup.com for reprints and translation rights for reprints. All other permissions can be obtained through our RightsLink service via the Permissions link on the article page on our site —for further information please contact journals.permissions@oup.com. Political Science Quarterly, 2024, Vol. 00, No. 0, 1–19 https://doi.org/10.1093/psquar/qqae051 Advance access publication 21 June 2024 Original Article Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/psq/advance-article/doi/10.1093/psquar/qqae051/7698167 by guest on 25 June 2024