Les Etats-Unis, l’UE, la Russie : un triangle difficile

Il y a une opportunité d’améliorer considérablement les relations UE-Etats-Unis sous la nouvelle administration Obama. C’est ce qu’écrivent Álvaro de Vasconcelos, directeur de European Institute for Security Studies (EUISS), et d’autres analystes dans un rapport de janvier de l’EUISS.

First, the authors assert that the US and the EU should « engage in close consultations […] to make their policies [towards Russia] more compatible ». 

In particular, the paper argues that the US and the EU should be « open to a debate on how to improve the efficiency of European security structures ». 

Indeed, « multilateral cooperation on security, arms control and disarmament is crucial for European and global security, » the authors state. 

To improve world security, the two giants must engage in an intensive dialogue process, dealing with controversial issues like « Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) and NATO enlargement, » the paper asserts. 

Such dialogue should « aim at better mutual understanding » and enable the EU and the US to « shape the broader debate on European security with their own ideas and suggestions, » the authors argue. 

However, the paper maintains that transatlantic dialogue must also take « Russian perspectives and interests into account ». Indeed, it would be « helpful to involve Russian representatives at an expert level, » the experts say. 

Furthermore, the US needs to « disentangle democracy promotion from its geostrategic approach to the region as a whole, » the authors claim. 

By this, they mean that the Obama administration should « abstain from pursuing Georgia and Ukraine’s NATO accession as a priority goal and focus on critical support for the consolidation of democracies ». 

On top of this, the US should « make use of the EU’s capacities and its experience drawn from close political, economic and societal ties with Russia ». 

Nonetheless, the authors admit that Moscow has not shown « much openness to cooperation » recently. Thus the EU and the US should be aware that there is « no quick fix » to most security problems. 

Despite this, the paper concludes that « doors have to be kept open for long-term solutions » to common problems.