A Pragmatic Actor — The US Response to the Arab Uprisings

Transatlantic security relations since the European security strategy: what role for the EU in its pursuit of strategic autonomy?

“…However, based on the transatlantic track record since 2003, this problem is not insurmountable if the US and the EU can agree on a workable division of labour between their respective forces, as seems to be happening since the July 2016 NATO Warsaw Summit -before Trump was elected. That said, both the US and the EU can be accused of failing to respond effectively to certain security problems in recent years, such as the collapse of Libya and Syria (Huber 2015;Noutcheva 2015). For its part, the EU still does not possess its own credible military capability for either deterrence or war-fighting against another major power and, even if it did, it is questionable whether the EU itself would undertake a more punishing operation as NATO did in Serbia/Kosovo to compel or deter a foreign military force.…”

The noble west and the dirty rest? Western democracy promoters and illiberal regional powers

“…72 But like the EU, the US has only reluctantly backed democratic protest movements if its geostrategic interests have been at stake and refrained from putting pressure on incumbent regimes for human rights violations or democratic back-sliding. 73 Moreover, US democracy assistance is security driven prioritizing fragile states. 74 In short, Western democracy promotion can have unintended and negative effects on democratic change in target states.…”

Turkish Foreign Policy towards the Arab Spring: Between Western Orientation and Regional Disorder

“…Given its country-specific security and economic interests, the Obama administration attempted to deal with each uprising on a case-by-case and ad hoc basis, which led to incoherence within and between the US response in each country. 26 Possible US activism was further undermined by growing domestic political polarization and national reluctance for new foreign policy adventures.…”