By Doug Bereuter & John Lis
For those who have followed U.S.-European relations since the end of the Cold War, transatlantic tensions that erupted prior to the war in Iraq should have come as little surprise. The decade between the collapse of the Soviet Union and the September 11 terrorist attacks saw attitudes across the Atlantic begin to diverge on issues such as national sovereignty, the exercise of military power, defense capabilities, and trade and economic policy. Thus, transatlantic tension in the post–Cold War world is not new. As it brought these issues center stage, however, the run-up to war in Iraq last winter did mark a new level of intensity in transatlantic turmoil.