EU-US Cooperation in International Peace and Security: Bilateral versus Multilateral Dialogues

This paper tries to determine to what extent EU-US cooperation in the field of international peace and security is impacted by bilateral relations under the New Transatlantic Agenda versus multilateral dialogues. It employs Michael Smith's framework of 'bi-multilateral' negotiations in its analysis. The case studies explored are bilateral dialogues under the New Transatlantic Agenda alongside multilateral dialogues in the framework of the United Nations, the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation and ad hoc fora such as the Middle East Quartet. The main finding is that bilateral and multilateral dialogues are complementary in EU-US cooperation on issues of international peace and security. Bilateral dialogues by themselves are not sufficient to effectively address complex international peace and security issues. Multilateral dialogues can gain useful support, efficiency and a degree of legitimacy from good relations at the bilateral level. Moreover, ad hoc fora can be valuable additions which may complement both existing bilateral as well as multilateral EU-US dialogues. Finally, the choice of forum and the potential of EU-US cooperation are often considerably influenced by the nature of the issue under discussion.