Anna Kronlund: US and Europe in the era of great power competition

Transatlantic relations are primarily a post-World War II phenomenon. They have been founded on the idea that the US and Europe have shared not only similar values such as democracy, rule of law and human rights but also similar interests, including trade and investments. Transatlantic relations have worked as a theoretical framework for the “West”.

While the explanations for forming the alliance have varied, the United States and Europe have long been considered close allies, both committed to liberal or rules-based order. The relationship was further institutionalized through NATO. Transatlantic relations can be both understood as a framing in foreign policy discourses and in more pragmatic terms in supporting policies and institutions in both formal and informal settings. This includes EU-US summits or Transatlantic legislators’ dialogue between the European Parliament and US Congress’ delegations.

Although the current status of relationship is somewhat in a dynamic shape, it has experienced ups and downs before. For example, the Iraq War in the early 2000s, the failed TTIP free trade agreement negotiations in 2016, or the US pivot to Asia during the Obama presidency generated debate about the state of shared values and interests, as well as the US commitment to Europe in terms of security and economic cooperation. Nowadays, discussions have focused on trade tariffs, US-Iran conflict, the support for Ukraine and developments in Greenland, to mention a few. By the current US administration, the EU is viewed more as a competitor than an ally.

The fragmentation of the world order, different domains of power and the changing forms of cooperation are also having an effect. The US approach towards multilateralism and international organizations, in addition to its voting and actions in the United Nations, proposes a growing divergence between the two. The world where the US and EU operates has, of course, considerably changed since 1945 and especially after the end of the Cold War, further having an effect to transatlantic relations. Whether this development originates from the US policy or from broader trends remains a question. Different scenarios have been provided about the future of cooperation, and some might argue that the whole idea of transatlantic relations is in the past already. Increasingly countries are seeking alternative formats for action, which could be more interest than value based, resembling more bilateralism or minilateralism instead of multilateralism.

In transatlantic relations, the argument of like-mindedness seems to be disappearing. It also appears that there are no shared interests anymore. A recent and illustrative example is the latest US National Security Strategy published in late 2025, which mentions transatlantic relations only once, from the perspective of economic relations. At the same time, discussion about Europe focuses on values or the derogation of Europe as a continent. According to the strategy, the US focus is on Western Hemisphere and Europe is mentioned only as a third region after Asia. The relationship is marked by distinct national interests and the constrains of domestic politics. This applies to European countries as well.

Talk of sovereignty has also reemerged in international politics (if it ever was absent). This applies to both the US and Europe but perhaps increasingly so in the new domains or policies. The changing environment, great power competition and politics have intensified claims for Europe to reduce its dependencies in critical areas. More and more, technological development and deepening digitalization are shaping relations among the countries, including the relations between the US and Europe. Centre on Regulation in Europe publication from year 2022 estimated that European countries are heavily digitally dependent on foreign countries, the dependence notably being on the US. To reduce EU’s dependency and to increase its autonomy, European Commission introduced the European Technological Sovereignty package in June 2026, which includes two legislative proposals, explicitly concerning AI and semiconductor chips. Whether framed as sovereignty or strategic autonomy, the EU has increasingly taken political agency in different political domains to have more leeway as has been discussed in the IR literature also previously.

US and Europe have had different views on regulation. A recent EU action towards US big tech companies caused US lawmakers to ask President Trump to take action. Regulation can be seen as a way of promoting your own agenda and territorial authority in a highly interconnected world. The EU has limited resources and capabilities to have dominance in comparison to the US in terms of hard power or technological advantages. The question is then, how to strengthen Europe and one possible answer could be regulation, as the EU provides a platform for it.

In early September 2026, a new legislative effort by Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Representative Greg Casar (D-Texas) “Ban Artificial Superintelligence Act” would encourage pausing AI development until there are rules provided by the federal regulator. The proposal also interestingly highlights the need for the US to pursue an international agreement concerning developments in other parts of the world.

There are also examples of finding a common ground in new policy areas like digitalization and technology in international forums. For instance, the United Nations General Assembly has previously established the Independent International Scientific Panel on Artificial Intelligence, which published its first report in 2026 to help the UN member states steer rapidly changing technological challenges.

The future of transatlantic relations will be defined by the interests of Europe and US, in addition to peer or reference groups in which these are best advanced. If the traditional idea of partnership may have gone, cooperation in a more functional form could be still possible where the values are replaced with interests-based cooperation formats.