Transatlantic Values: Are they still shared across the transatlantic?
In his 2021 speech at the Munich Security Conference, President Biden spoke of “shared values” in the transatlantic relationship. “Our partnerships have endured and grown through the years because they are rooted in the richness of our shared democratic values,” he said. Naturally, one of the first questions the NextGen group wanted to tackle was what exactly are those shared democratic values? And are they as shared as one is led to believe?
Challenges
Not-so-shared Values
Relying on broad, idealistic values to unify the transatlantic relationship exaggerates consensus and ignores differences between and within nations. As polarization rises on both continents, regional, national, and socio-political divides on values deepen. A values-driven transatlantic alliance takes abstract shared values as the starting point; however, reality is not so clear-cut.
Within Europe, a lack of institutions and bodies to promote a European image and values creates its own democratic challenge. With little emphasis on developing “European” political parties, media, television, and journals, there is no real unifying force between the individual countries. A disjointed Europe will face difficulty identifying shared values between its countries and the U.S Likewise, recent events in the U.S. reveal a burgeoning gap between majority- and minority-held views.
The U.S. and Europe share values but diverge in their way of governing them
Despite sharing broadly similar foundational values, the U.S. and Europe pursue different means of managing them. This is revealed through an examination of the tech space. Varying ideas relating to the right to privacy, and tax obligations of platforms, make it difficult for the U.S. and EU to form a common standard for digital regulation. Despite these challenging policy issues, it was suggested that the U.S. and EU ultimately have similar policy objectives propelled by their shared values. Rather than attempt to harmonize their approaches, it would be better to focus on their broader end goals. There are limits to translating shared values into intersecting transatlantic policies.
The U.S. and Europe must rebuild their own democratic values before strengthening their alliance
Both the U.S. and Europe face a crisis of democracy. Observations that the United States and Europe allege to value democracy and human rights but lack accountability to enforce these purported values led one member to remark, “There’s a lot of hypocrisy.” Poland and Hungary’s democratic backsliding has so far received few sanctions. On the other side of the Atlantic, voter suppression, false claims of a stolen presidential elections, and sharpened concerned for social justice and police reform in the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man, by a police officer highlight the current precarity of the U.S. democracy. Both have suffered from a global loss of respect and trust that has severely weakened the West’s ability to counter the Chinese model, which offers a stark alternative to the rules-based liberal order.
“We need to build accountability for shared values.”
There is a disproportionate focus on economic opportunity within the transatlantic alliance
NextGen Network members expressed concern that economic opportunity is perceived as one of the top shared interest areas within the transatlantic alliance, according to the survey conducted before the workshop. In economic terms, a transatlantic alliance would lose to rising powers such as China. Thus, to focus efforts on this at the expense of strengthening each side’s democratic standing would damage the relationship, although one member observed that “economic opportunity is the one issue that transcends polarized U.S. and Europe.” To defend democracy and the West, each side of the Atlantic needs to regain its moral authority, another said.
“The democratic world was not built on economic opportunity. It was built on something greater, something more inspiring.”
Opportunities
Shared sustainability values offer an opportunity to strengthen the US-Europe relationship
Collective climate action, both at home and globally, has the potential to bolster the alliance. The green energy market provides an enormous opportunity for the U.S. and Europe to engage in joint investment initiatives and accelerate the adoption of sustainable energy sources globally.
Increasing access to green energy in developing countries will not only counter climate change but also reduce the potential for future social and political conflict. Introducing public-private partnerships will be a key part of meeting their climate-based targets. The intersection of climate action with tech, national security, and human rights makes this value particularly potent, one participant reflected.
The need for better public diplomacy to highlight shared transatlantic values
It was agreed that broadly shared democratic values tie the transatlantic community together. Better public diplomacy efforts alluding to these values would help fortify this bond. Forums such as the Nextgen Network remind us of the privilege and virtue of freedom of speech. It is a vital value at the heart of the transatlantic community that helps hold the relationship together through the discussions it enables. Public diplomacy measures drawing attention to these often taken-for-granted core values will support the future of the transatlantic alliance.
