The U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan and the announcement of AUKUS — a trilateral pact between the United States, Australia, and the United Kingdom — prompted a flurry of criticism from European policymakers with one senior EU official calling for a “pause and a reset” in trans-Atlantic relations. Do the core assumptions and principles underpinning U.S. policy towards Europe need rethinking? What does each side really need from the other? How might the Biden administration build out a more affirmative agenda for Europe given its focus on Asia policy and the Indo-Pacific?

On November 15, on the heels of the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) and the G-20 Summit in Europe, the Center on the United States and Europe at Brookings hosted French Minister of State for European Affairs Clément Beaune for a keynote conversation and an expert panel discussion on these topics.

This event was part of the Brookings – Robert Bosch Foundation Transatlantic Initiative, which aims to build up and expand resilient networks and trans-Atlantic activities to analyze and work on issues concerning trans-Atlantic relations and social cohesion in Europe and the United States.

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