Simul stabunt, simul cadent: The US, the EU and the liberal international order in the Trump era

The election of Donald Trump as the 45th President of the United States was perceived by many observers as a threat to the international liberal order. This paper sets out to contribute to the debate by focusing on the role of a specific component of this order: the relationship between the United States and the European Union. The question addressed is whether the potential transformations experienced by the element of the transatlantic relationship due to the ‘Trump effect’ are liable to have a substantial and distinctive impact on the wider order. Using the lenses of the security community approach, we point out variance and convergences in interests, interaction, institution and identities of the two partners, and to what extent the advent of Trump has actually – or is likely to – impinge on each of these categories, and how this affects the foundations of the international liberal order.