By Martin Banks - 15th March 2011
This survey will help bridge those gaps”
Craig Kennedy
A new opinion survey shows that American and European leaders consider the state of transatlantic relations to be better than the public on either side of the Atlantic.
According to the "transatlantic trends" survey of leaders in the EU and the United States, 76 per cent of US and 73 per cent of EU leaders say transatlantic relations are "good".
This is higher than the perception among the general public, with 54 per cent of Americans and 58 per cent of Europeans saying relations are "good".
This year, for the first time, American leaders were included in the survey in order to offer a comparative analysis of the views of European and American leaders and their publics.
The survey addresses the state, nature and challenges of the transatlantic relationship, including an assessment of US president Barack Obama's policies, views on the desirability of EU and US leadership and levels of optimism for the stabilisation of Afghanistan and Iraq.
The survey was conducted by the German Marshall fund of the United States.
Speaking at its launch on Tuesday, GMF president Craig Kennedy said the survey "provides an insight into the collective mind of policy professionals in Washington and Brussels and also sheds light on the overlaps and disconnects between leaders and their public."
He added, "This survey will help bridge those gaps."
According to the poll, a number of specific issues proved to be divisive for leaders and their publics, including the rising powers of Asia and Iran.
While Europeans, in general, favour economic incentives to persuade Iran to give up its nuclear enrichment programme and Americans are more disposed to economic sanctions, the transatlantic divide disappears when considering last-resort action.
European and American leaders are more willing to accept a nuclear Iran than their publics - 50 per cent of American leaders and 51 per cent of European leaders would accept a nuclear Iran - but only 35 per cent of the European and 38 per cent of the American general public would accept a nuclear Iran over military action.
The question of China's economic influence saw 63 per cent of European leaders and 66 per cent of American leaders seeing China as an economic opportunity, compared to the European (51 per cent) and American (51 per cent) publics who viewed it as an economic threat.
The survey also revealed a number of important transatlantic "fault lines" between leaders.
European and American leaders strongly disagreed on the role of the military and whether, in some cases, war is necessary to obtain justice, with the survey revealing a 40-point gap on this issue (83 per cent of US leaders against 43 per cent of European leaders).
The survey also showed a marked contrast in attitudes to climate change, with more than twice as many European leaders (19 per cent) naming it as a top priority compared to their American counterparts (8 per cent).
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