International Relations Approaches and Transatlantic Relations

Abstract

With our puzzle defined and described, we now develop a roadmap with which to find an explanation of the source and future of U.S.-EU divergence. One approach to this quest would be to evaluate a single hypothesis against a series of selected cases. Following that route, much would rely on the selection of cases. At the end of the journey, however, a definitive answer would not likely be found: even if the hypothesis appears to be supported, we still would not know if there are other, better, explanations that have not been explored; if not, then we would have no answer at all. A better method would be to examine the question using several hypotheses from within a single approach to international politics. This path would be richer than following a single hypothesis, in that we could now compare our evidence against different explanations.¹ Nevertheless, the approach still might push our analysis toward certain facts at the expense of others. Furthermore, in the end, all we could say is that we have found the best explanation from within that approach: we still would not know if other approaches offer a stronger explanation. The best way to assess the source and future of U.S.-EU divergence is to use hypotheses from several approaches to international politics.