Peace, Cooperation, and Transatlantic Relations

Conflict often grabs attention, while cooperation goes unnoticed. Historical narratives about the twentieth century typically begin with World War I, then World War II, the Cold War, and the ending of the Cold War. Other wars may be added in depending upon one’s interests, but it is the violent conflicts, rather than the prolonged periods of peace, that tend to be the focal points. Given that we are now living through a global pandemic and know first-hand how disruptive and traumatic it can be, it is mind-boggling—and humbling—that the pandemic of 1918 was often overlooked in our telling of twentieth-century history, most likely because it did not entail violent conflict.

Similarly, observers tend to focus on instances of economic conflict rather than the innumerable cooperative transactions that take place every hour of every day. We tell pollsters that we believe the economy is in decline when most indicators suggest it is doing remarkably well. We fixate on crime and believe it is getting worse, when, in fact, data demonstrates the reverse is true. And we overlook the fact that the overwhelming majority of people follow the law, despite the fact that laws often impose costs.

Such prevalent pessimism may be the result of the mass media or perhaps it is an artifact of the way our brains struggle to make sense of the complex firehose of information that constantly bombards us. Regardless, our world is often incorrectly portrayed as a Hobbesian hellscape.

Jussi Hanhimäki’s Pax Transatlantica: America and Europe in the Post-Cold War Era is a refreshing and most welcome departure from such narratives. The fact that is well-written and rests on solid data-driven research ensures that it will be cited often.

Hanhimäki, a leading international historian whose career has taken him throughout Europe and North America, packs a lot into a concise, easy-to-read, and tightly focused book. Its aim is to explain a paradox: the transatlantic relationship is a great success story, yet it always appears to be on the brink of catastrophe or collapse. As he notes, “concern over the demise of transatlantic relations has been a perennial topic for analysts and observers,” yet the reality is that the relationship has proven extraordinarily durable (1). He uses the term “Pax Transatlantica” to refer to the many ways in which the nations, international organizations, economies, and people on both sides of the Atlantic have become ever more closely connected since the end of the Cold War. His conclusions are refreshingly optimistic: there never was a golden age of transatlantic relations in which all parties were in constant agreement. Rather, the history of the transatlantic relationship has been dotted with conflicts and crises. Nonetheless, these two regions have created a prosperous democratic space in international relations that will continue to endure.

The book covers security, economic, and political transatlantic relations and is organized thematically. The introduction provides context for the main arguments and summarizes what lies ahead. The first chapter considers the Cold War and makes clear that even during this so-called “golden age” when Europe and North America were united in their desire to contain Soviet communism, transatlantic relations were sometimes quarrelsome.

Chapter Two considers security relations during the post-Cold War era. It focuses on the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), which Hanhimäki considers to be “the bedrock” of Pax Transatlantica (66). The collapse of the Soviet Union raised fundamental questions about NATO’s raison d’être, with critics charging that its continued existence—much less its expansion—would prove unnecessarily provocative to Russia. In a rich, yet concise narrative, Hanhimäki explains NATO’s shifting role throughout the Balkan wars, the war in Afghanistan after the 9/11 attacks, Libya, Syria, and the conflicts with Russia over Georgia and Ukraine. NATO was repeatedly challenged during this period, oftentimes as a result of U.S. unilateralism. Yet, seventy-two years after its creation, Hanhimäki notes, there is much to celebrate. In the thirty years since the Cold War ended the alliance has expanded to thirty members and has become an “active player, venturing beyond its immediate neighborhood” (65). Its military capacities also dwarf those of any potential rival. U.S. President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron were publicly and loudly critical of NATO, but such criticisms were neither new nor unique. NATO is emblematic of the transatlantic relationship, Hanhimäki concludes: “its member states disagree … with each other on a regular basis. But ultimately they stick together” (67). There are no better alternatives.

Chapter Three offers a brisk yet detailed summary of the main developments in transatlantic economic relations. It covers globalization in the post Cold-War era, the expansion of the World Trade Organization, regional economic integration, what Hanhimäki calls “the Great Acceleration” of trade and wealth, and the Great Recession. Throughout the past thirty years transatlantic economic relations have been burdened with trade disputes, tariff wars, and conflicts over labor standards, environmental mechanisms, and regulations, not to mention U.S. unilateralism and Brexit. But Hanhimäki calls our attention to trends that have produced a rapidly integrating transatlantic economic community that has grown increasingly more prosperous, or as he calls it “the unchallenged cockpit of the global economy” (90). Closer integration and interdependence have led to more competition and conflict, but fundamentally the transatlantic economic relationship has been extraordinarily successful in the post-Cold War era.

The fourth chapter focuses on political relations, and in particular, the rise of populism. Hanhimäki contends that the rise of populism on both sides of the Atlantic is a response to “the reshuffling of democratic politics after 1989, when labels such as ‘left’ and ‘right’ no longer carried the meaning they once had” (11). The fact that populism has arisen on both sides of the Atlantic demonstrates the political similarities and degree of interconnectedness between the United States and Europe.

Chapter Five considers the Covid-19 pandemic’s impact on transatlantic relations. I read this section as Ontario, Canada—where I live—was placed under yet another lockdown in an effort to contain the Omicron variant. Reading about Covid in the past tense was rather surreal, but I was struck by how much of the storyline I had already forgotten (or repressed). Writing about an issue that continues to unfold is very challenging, but Hanhimäki’s treatment of this period is superb. This chapter will be an excellent concise reference for those needing to refer to the pandemic in the future.

One of the impressive things about this book is that it provides a rich historical narrative about security, economic, and political transatlantic relations from the Cold War until January 2021 in a mere 162 pages (excluding notes). This is extraordinarily hard to do and is a reflection of Hanhimäki’s command of the field. Consequently, this book will prove to be valuable not only for scholars, but also for a wide range of university-level history courses and general readers with an interest in history.