Transatlantic Relations and (the Inexistence Of) Coherence

This research project aims at looking at transatlantic cooperation and underlying coherence structures. Transatlantic relations can be seen as an integrative process based on a common set of institutionalized norms, practices and identities between North America and Europe (Risse 2016). Accordingly transatlantic cooperation has been the subject of a variety of different research projects (Alcaro et al. 2016), which have treated transatlantic cooperation as regionalism in its own right. Arguably, in order to flourish regional cooperation processes are in need of congruence, consistency and coherence amongst their actors and policies. Such coherences can occur horizontally (across actors) and vertically (between states/organisations and their subunits). To which extend then does the (in-)existence of coherence in the transatlantic relationship imply ‘stronger’/’weaker’ cooperation? How has the advent of crises (Riddervold/Newsome 2018) in transatlantic relations impacted on ‘stronger’ or ‘weaker’ coherence? Not the least by answering this research question, the project aims to shed light on the (in-)existence of consistency and coherence in transatlantic cooperation and the existing (in-)coherences and across dimensions of transatlantic cooperation.