A Thorn in Transatlantic Relations: American and European Perceptions of Threat and Security (Governance, Security and Development)

The manuscript explains why the United States and Europe perceive threats in the world so differently and why those differences often come close to fracturing trans-Atlantic relations. Americans and Europeans perceive threat differently. Americans remain more religious than Europeans and generally still believe their nation is providentially blessed. American security culture is relatively stable and includes the deeply held belief that existential threat in the world emanates from the work of evil-doers. The US must therefore sometimes intervene militarily against evil. The European Union (EU) security culture model differs from traditional European iterations and from the American variant. The concept of threat as evil lost salience as Western Europe became more secularist. Threats became problems to manage and resolve. The upsurge in anti-immigrant and anti-foreigner sentiment in the midst of economic crisis undermines this model "Americans and Europeans perceive threat differently. Americans remain more religious than Europeans and generally still believe their nation is providentially blessed. American security culture is relatively stable and includes the deeply held belief that existential threat in the world emanates from the work of evil-doers. The U.S. must therefore sometimes intervene militarily against evil. The European Union (EU) security culture model differs from traditional European iterations and from the American variant. The concept of threat as evil lost salience as Western Europe became more secularist. Threats became problems to manage and resolve. The upsurge in anti-immigrant and anti-foreigner sentiment in the midst of economic crisis undermines this model"-- Provided by publisher "Americans and Europeans perceive threat differently. Americans remain more religious than Europeans and generally still believe their nation is providentially blessed. American security culture is relatively stable and includes the deeply held belief that existential threat in the world emanates from the work of evil-doers. The U.S. must therefore sometimes intervene militarily against evil. The European Union (EU) security culture model differs from traditional European iterations and from the American variant. The concept of threat as evil lost salience as Western Europe became more secularist. Threats became problems to manage and resolve. The upsurge in anti-immigrant and anti-foreigner sentiment in the midst of economic crisis undermines this model"--(site de l'éditeur) Front Matter....Pages i-xi Introduction....Pages 1-21 “God Has Favored Our Undertaking”: Explaining American Security and Strategic Culture....Pages 23-49 Oasis or Mirage? EU European Security and Strategic Culture....Pages 51-83 Combating Communism “from the Abodes of Righteousness”....Pages 85-115 Naming Terror: US and European Counterterrorism Strategies since the 1970s....Pages 117-152 Conclusion: Transatlantic Security Cultures in Transition....Pages 153-162 Back Matter....Pages 163-206