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Is a transatlantic agenda inspiring the Europeanization of America?
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There is a movement in the U.S. Congress to create a transatlantic free trade area by 2015. It is led by Senator Bob Bennett and other congressional members of the Transatlantic Policy Network, an organization devoted to strengthening the EU-US transatlantic partnership. They are attempting to fulfill a transatlantic agenda spawned by the Atlantic Union Movement in the 1950s.
From around 1949 to the late 1960s, the unofficial objective of the U.S. State Department was to encourage the establishment of a United States of Europe which could eventually partner with the United States of America in a political, economic and defensive manner. This concept was known as Operation Dumbbell; two united and equal economic powers linked by a transatlantic framework.
To this day, Europeans have refused to form a more perfect union, and the realization of a true Atlantic community continues to be placed on hold. Some argue that the socioeconomic and political disparities between the United States and continental Europe prevent the establishment of such a partnership. Our political and economic philosophies are different. For all intents and purposes, America and Britain focus more on individualism, and continental Europe, on collectivism.
It is not surprising that President Bush and Prime Minister Blair sparked an Atlantic rift by advancing the interests of individual freedom in Iraq and Afghanistan. Europeans have always favored the rule of law and collective order over liberty. Worshippers of foreign philosophies in Congress are embarrassed by this rift, and are working hard with President Obama to reverse it through ideological capitulation.
To effectively unite Atlantica, many policymakers believe we need to meet our European friends in the middle. In essence, we must become more progressive, so our political and economic agendas can harmoniously merge on a transatlantic level. The Europeanization of America is a deliberate and calculated agenda. Once Americans are conditioned to accept and live under more socialistic ideals, a true Atlantic community can effectively be negotiated.
Let us rewind the tape.
There was a time when proponents of Atlantic unity advanced freedom first. When Truman, Eisenhower, Nixon, Ford and Bush advanced the Atlantic Union Movement in the 50s, 60s and early 70s, they were not ashamed of showcasing the principles enshrined in the Declaration of Independence. These men, and prominent members of Congress, were willing to explore the concept of forging a more perfect Atlantic Federal Union modeled after the Constitution of the United States.
A love of freedom inspired the creation of the Atlantic community, not economic functionalism. Let us never forget that freedom is the end that guides our means.
