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THE UNITED STATES AND EUROPE: THE END OF AN ERA
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and stabilising a country currently controlled by
Al Assad with the aid of Russia. From the per-
spective of the EU, any resolution of the current
situation in Syria must involve a national transi-
tion agreement leading to the end of Al Assad’s
rule, the democratisation of the country, consti-
tutional reform and territorial decentralisation.
The conclusions of the December 2016
European Council meeting were fully in line
with proposals put forth at the Geneva I and II
conferences and UN Security Council resolu-
tions, both of which the EU continues to sup-
port.
Trump’s approach to the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict is at odds with the multilateral and le-
galist strategy embraced by the EU. His plan ap-
pears to be to force a new round of negotia-
tions between Israeli government and Palestine
authorities by moving the US embassy to
Jerusalem, a mission he has entrusted to his
son-in-law Jared Kushner. Kushner’s “Jerusalem
first” strategy for achieving peace between the
two factions calls for striking a joint sovereignty
agreement on Jerusalem before moving on to
issues related to division of territory, settlers,
refugees and security. Before taking office,
Trump attacked the nuclear agreement with
Iran
n
egotiated during the Obama administra-
tion, promising to undo it and negotiate “a
much better deal” once he was elected.
However, a confrontation with Tehran may not
be in the best interests of the United States at
this particular moment given that Trump will
need the cooperation of Iran and Russia to sort
out the current mess in Syria and any such move
would sow discord with the EU, which has
much invested in the nuclear agreement and
seeks to further the regional integration of Iran.
Global governance and climate change
Energy and climate change policy could also
suffer serious setbacks. Should the Trump ad-
ministration act on its professed intention to
implement a pro-hydrocarbon policy, rupture
between the US and the EU on yet another issue
could be inevitable in the near-term future. If
the US pulls out of the Paris agreement as Trump
has promised, it will not only diminish its global
influence (especially over China, given the deci-
sive role the co-leadership provided by Chinese
leader Xi Jin Ping and Barak Obama played in
the success of the Paris summit) but, by setting
a precedent for non-fulfilment of pledges made
at the COP21 that certain other European coun-
tries may be tempted to follow, also endanger
one of the most successful multilateral initia-
tives supported by the EU to date.
European response and a new
transatlantic relationship
2017 marks the sixtieth anniversary of the Treaty
of Rome, the international agreement signed on
25 March 1957 that established the European
Economic Community (TEEC). The air of drama
surrounding this landmark moment has been
heightened by a number of key elections taking
place on the continent this year. The nature of
Europe’s response to the new Trump administra-
tion will be conditioned by the results of these
electoral processes, especially the two-round
French presidential election to be held in April
and May and the German legislative elections
slated for September. Although anti-Muslim
candidate Geert Wilders managed to steer the
debate during the recent Dutch general election
campaign, his party came in second. Electoral
results aside, a close run for the money or