US signals revived interest in economic ties with Europe
After Obama's famous pivot to Asia in his first term, the president seems to have recognised the importance of the transatlantic relationship
After much talk about a US pivot to Asia, signs of a revived American interest in Europe have appeared.
Barack Obama, who has billed himself as "America's first Pacific president", seems to have taken a fresh look at the continent during his second term by launching negotiations on a transatlantic free trade deal.
Obama's new secretary of state, John Kerry, was due to depart yesterday on his first official trip to four European capitals before heading to the Middle East. His predecessor, Hillary Rodham Clinton, chose Asia for her maiden overseas tour.
And when Vice-President Joe Biden addressed high-ranking officials, ministers and top military brass at the Munich Security Conference three weeks ago, he told Europeans that Washington still valued transatlantic ties.
"President Obama and I continue to believe that Europe is the cornerstone of our engagement with the rest of the world and is the catalyst for our global co-operation," he said.
Nicholas Siegel, a scholar with the German Marshall Fund think tank in Washington, pointed to a "real re-emphasis of the transatlantic relationship", while Tyson Barker, director of transatlantic relations at the Bertelsmann Foundation North America, said that during Obama's first term "the fascination with Asia was palpable and it permeated all of their strategic thinking". Now Obama acknowledges the need "to consolidate … some of our legacy relationships".
A year ago, the White House pressed Europe to combat its sovereign debt crisis, fearing that a European financial meltdown would drag down America's economy ahead of the presidential election. As markets have calmed in response to action by euro-zone governments and the European Central Bank, Washington seems to have turned its attention to opportunities that lie in the transatlantic realm.