The Current State of Transatlantic Relations — Brad Bowman and Dr. Julian Voje
On 26 November 2019, DAIS in cooperation with American Space Leipzig and the U.S. Embassy in Berlin, hosted a panel discussion about transatlantic perspectives on “great power competition” at the GRASSI Museum für Völkerkunde zu Leipzig. Panelists Bradley Bowman, Senior Director of the Center on Military and Political Power (CMPP) and the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), and Dr. Julian Voje, Head of Programs at the Munich Security Conference Foundation, discussed the current state of transatlantic relations in light of new challenges coming from Russia and China. The event was moderated by Janosch Kullenberg (Bremen International Graduate School of Social Sciences).
Bradley Bowman shared insights of how he, having served as Senator Advisor to three Republican senators, has perceived the familiar and new foreign threats toward the US.
He holds that the perspective in Washington shifted from a pro-China that welcomed China in the WTO to the realization that China has misused its growth and wealth and thereby made itself a trade adversary of the US. Bowman also underlined the importance of alliances, especially NATO, and a capable military force in order to stand united in case of possible aggression. He did not advocate “useless” use of military force but declared it necessary for the protection of the Western democracies against external attacks, for example by Russia.
Dr. Julian Voje explained that the first challenge is to figure out who is actually able to use their power to save the liberal order. A challenge he identifies as a “three-fold crisis”: the crisis of the international system, the crisis of the euro community, and the crisis of the liberal model of our society.
Dr. Voje criticizes that important international institutions like the UN do not work as well as they used to, especially when it comes to decision-making. Furthermore, especially with the United Kingdom leaving the EU, the EU cannot be taken for granted anymore.It has to face these challenges directly as a union. Dr. Voye and Bowman also discussed the complexity of military investment in Germany. Germany needs to find a balance between the necessity of military spending and historical responsibility.
The event showed that there is great potential in further debates about national and international security, power imbalances, and questions on how to protect Western democracies in a period of crisis. The panel discussion very successfully highlighted the differences and similarities of U.S. and German perspectives toward the improvement of our transatlantic relationship and sparked new ideas about the role of military, infrastructure, investment, and mutual trust.
Thank you to Bradley Bowman, Dr. Julian Voje, and Janosch Kullenberg for this very interesting event.