Trans-Atlantic tension will remain

On both sides of the Atlantic, foreign policy types are busy drawing up wish-lists of what they want the other to do once a new U.S. President is elected. More troops for Nato’s Afghan mission, says Barack Obama. No, retorts John McCain, support for sanctions against Iran is more important. Progress on Kyoto, say some Europeans. Others want the US and Europe to concentrate on reforming institutions like the UN, World Bank and the IMF.

Whilst it’s better than the fraught trans-Atlantic relations of the last eight years, this outbreak of list-writing nonetheless threatens to ultimately disappoint both parties. To ensure that relations between the world’s strongest allies have a propitious, post-election relaunch, both parties will need to think not only about what they want but also about what they are willing to give.