Since the end of World War II, the Atlantic Alliance between the countries of Western Europe and the United States has been a cornerstone of U.S. foreign policy. Despite various strains over the years, my guest today has said: "We've always argued about the 'means,' not the 'ends,' of policy. Now we seem to want very different end results." He was referring in this comment to the Trump Administration's decision to withdraw from the Iranian nuclear deal, despite near-unanimous European opposition.
Dr. Charles Kupchan, our guest, is a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations; he teaches at Georgetown University's Walsh School of Foreign Service. From 2014 to 2017, he was a special assistant to the President, and also the senior director for European Affairs at the National Security Council, within the Obama Administration. He also served as director for European Affairs at the NSC during the Clinton Administration.
He was recently a guest of the Tulsa Committee on Foreign Relations, speaking on "America First: Does the Atlantic Partnership Have a Future?"