The Cold War gave Europe and the USA a common purpose, and it lasted a long time, from 1945 until 1990. For two generations, this common interest—protecting "Western Democracy from the spread of international Communism"—helped create an illusion of a "common identity". Illusions seldom outlive their utility. Since 1990 the purpose of NATO—the main Transatlantic Alliance—has all but disappeared, despite half of "new" Europe scrambling to join it. America has been cast as an unwilling team player in world affairs at best and, at worst, a unilateral bully. Europe, not being a state, has a problem playing any coherent part in world affairs. But, as we argue, this is nothing new. Europe has experimented endlessly with ideology and models of the state, while the USA has remained steadfastly unchanged in its political culture, institutions and instruments of state. What we are seeing is more change in Europe, and the USA being, well, the USA as it always was, and always will be. If we understand that Americans are not, and never will be Europeans, nor should they be judged by European standards, then we are on the road to a much more workable foreign policy environment for both parties. By focusing on the continuities in America, the authors offer a somewhat light-hearted view of the fundamental differences between a USA that is predictably unchanging and a Europe that is predictably unpredictable.
