Война в Ираке и трансатлантические отношения ; The War in Iraq and Transatlantic Relations (Tatiana Talaiko)

Abstract

Раздел "Международные отношения" ; The war in Iraq caused a political and diplomatic crisis in the modern system of transatlantic relations. The US military operation in Iraq, undertaken without UN consent, came to be one of the reasons for the aggravation of relations between the US and the EU. US military action in Iraq divided the European countries into the US allies and the US opponents with regard to the settlement of the Iraq issue. The countries which sided with the US in their policy in Iraq were Great Britain, Portugal, Denmark, the Netherlands, Italy and Spain as well as some countries of Central and Eastern Europe which at that time were candidates to join the EU (Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic). France, Germany, Sweden, Finland, Austria and Ireland were opposed to the military solution. The position of the European countries notwithstanding, the US and Great Britain started their military actions against Saddam Hussein's regime on March 20, 2003 which caused a serious crisis in transatlantic relations. The controversy among the European countries on the Iraq issue in the first half of 2003 generated some grave doubts concerning the preservation of NATO as an effective instrument of collective defence and security and also concerning future transatlantic relations. But mid-2003 saw the emergence of the trend for healing the transatlantic fift, because the problems of rebuilding of Iraq after the war came to the foreground. Thus the Iraq campaign carried out by the US contrary to the position of the European anti-terrorist allies did not lead to a breakdown in the relations with its European opponents, in particular, with France and Germany. The UN Security Council in fact legitimized the occupation of Iraq and opened up the way for international cooperation in rebuilding Iraq. The Iraq conflict revealed some deep-rooted differences between the EU and the USA and showed the absence of a common European policy towards the USA. The main reasons for transatlantic differences are a gap between the EU and the US in military power and the divergence in their strategic cultures. But these differences are not irreconcilable, because these countries share a common system of basic social values, cultural traditions, an indissoluble network of economic ties and interdependence in security. The wish for collaboration still prevails in transatlantic relations. The Iraq crisis, which most seriously strained the relations between the USA and their European partners did not lead, however, to the undermining of transatlantic solidarity.