Enlarging the Union, Widening the Atlantic? : EU-US Relations and the Eastward Enlargement of the European Union.

Transatlantic relations have entered a prolonged period of tension. Europe and America have different worldviews. They are driven by divergent interests and clashing ambitions. American leaders pursue unipolarity, while their European counterparts try to facilitate the emergence of a multipolar world. Europe is increasingly seen by the US as a rival that needs to be contained. European integration makes the EU's voice louder in world affairs and strengthens demands for a partnership of equals. Domestic developments in the two continents cast further doubts over the viability of a close EU-US relationship. Europeans and Americans seem to drift apart culturally. They often give the impression that they do not share the same economic and political system. These trends are likely to be reinforced by the eastward enlargement of the European Union. The eastward expansion of the EU could lead to more European integration, a greater EU involvement in its new neighbourhood and beyond and a closer relationship with Russia. It is, therefore, likely that it will usher in the development of a more integrated, more ambitious and more powerful European Union, which could be seen more as a US competitor than a partner, determined to pursue its own, independent agendas on a global level. Thus, the eastward enlargement of the European Union looks set to widen the current rift between Europe and America