January 21, 2021
Joe Biden became president of the United States yesterday. As he proclaimed in his inaugural speech: “America has been tested, and we’ve come out stronger for it. We will repair our alliances and engage with the world once again. Not to meet yesterday’s challenges, but today’s and tomorrow’s challenges.” The time to open a new chapter on transatlantic cooperation is now.
The power of transatlantic cooperation arises, most fundamentally, from a shared belief in and commitment to democracy. American democracy is under significant stress, as the lethal assault on the U.S. Capitol on January 6 made clear. The challenge to democracy is not unique to the United States. Antidemocratic forces on both sides of the Atlantic have fomented fear, resentment, and anger on nationalist and often explicitly racist lines in an effort to undermine faith in democratic institutions. Yet even in the face of such attacks on democratic values, I see the resilience of democracy in the actions of citizens on both sides of the Atlantic.