.INFO: Time for honest audit of EU-US relations

With pressure coming from every direction, the EU and the US now, more than ever, need an honest discussion about their partnership. They should figure out how best to consolidate their strengths and plan a course of action.

The electoral year in the United States poses a challenge to Europeans, but it also offers an opportunity for them to reflect upon the state of the transatlantic partnership and present their vision of it.

The next presidency will not be about repairing America's image but about reaffirming US global leadership.

Read the full article at EUObserver.

.INFO: The US mid-term elections

The nostalgia for President Obama’s message of hope, change and post-partisanship articulated during the 2008 presidential elections was not enough to win over the majority of Americans preoccupied with high unemployment rates, slow economic growth and the country’s huge deficit. The Republican Party’s (GOP) win in the House of Representatives and the Democrats’ slight victory in the Senate are proof of Americans’ dissatisfaction with President Obama’s domestic agenda (e.g. the health care bill, government powers, unemployment, tax cuts) and suggest potential battlegrounds.