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Introduction

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Abstract

As US ambassador to the European Union during 2014–2017, I had to deal with a number of critical European and transatlantic crises, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, allegations of US government data privacy infringements, deadly terrorist attacks in many European cities, mass migration into Europe that threatened to undermine the solidarity of the EU, a referendum in the UK on leaving the EU, frantic negotiations to keep Greece from leaving the Eurozone, intensive negotiations to replace a critical US–EU data privacy agreement, and an Ebola outbreak in West Africa. I was also tasked with the responsibility of promoting a US–EU free trade agreement. Although we failed in that objective to my great regret, the US and the EU successfully addressed the other challenges, as well as negotiated a landmark climate change agreement. These are some of the topics addressed in this book.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Remarks before the European Parliament, January 28, 2015. https://push.tass.ru/en/russia/774264.

  2. 2.

    “Putin’s Arrow,” The Economist, March 29, 2014.

  3. 3.

    Michael Birnbaum, “European Leaders Angry About Allegations of US Spying,” The Washington Post, June 30, 2013.

  4. 4.

    Edward Jay Epstein, “The Fable of Edward Snowden,” The Wall Street Journal, December 30, 2016.

  5. 5.

    Martin Feldstein, “EMU and International Conflict,” Foreign Affairs, November–December 1997. In 2002, he concluded: “The euro has thus caused tensions and conflicts within Europe that would not otherwise have existed. Further steps toward a permanent fiscal union would only exacerbate these tensions.” “The Failure of the Euro: The Little Currency That Couldn’t,” Foreign Affairs, January–February 2002.

  6. 6.

    Jim Yardley, “Has Europe Reached Breaking Point?” The New York Times, December 15, 2015.

  7. 7.

    State of the Union Address 2016: Towards a Better Europe—A Europe that Protects, Empowers and Defends, Strasbourg, September 14, 2016.

  8. 8.

    Wolfgang Münchau, “Europe’s Multiplicity of Crises Is Not Accidental,” Financial Times, January 3, 2016.

  9. 9.

    Bertelsmann Foundation, “Departure from the Schengen Agreement,” 2016. https://www.bertelsmann-stiftung.de/fileadmin/files/BSt/Publikationen/GrauePublikationen/NW_Departure_from_Schengen.pdf.

  10. 10.

    Tom Friedman, “Friends and Refugees in Need,” The New York Times, January 27, 2016.

  11. 11.

    Craig Winneker, “Who Said It: ‘Star Wars’ or the European Union?” Politico, December 14, 2015.

  12. 12.

    Nick Gutteridge, “Symbolic! Brussels Wastes Cash on Sculpture Garden—With Ostriches Burying Heads in Sand,” Express, August 31, 2016.

  13. 13.

    John Peet, “The Future of the European Union,” The Economist, March 25, 2017.

  14. 14.

    The Times, January 16, 2017.

  15. 15.

    Shawn Donnan, “Why a Trump Trade War Is More Likely with the EU Than China,” Financial Times, May 29, 2018.

  16. 16.

    Alex Barker, “Trump Team Rang EU and Asked ‘What Country Is Leaving Next’?” Financial Times, January 13, 2017.

  17. 17.

    Press Office, General Secretariat of the Council, January 31, 2017.

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Gardner, A.L. (2020). Introduction. In: Stars with Stripes. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-29966-8_1

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