Liberty, Security and Power: Some Reflections on Transatlantic Relations

The leitmotiv of the tensions between security and liberty is recurrent in democratic debate – especially in connection with wars, but also in relation to other cases where internal or external threats are seen as requiring the sacrifice of liberty to guarantee survival. Such tension can hardly arise in non-democracies, where liberties are seen as a threat themselves by those in power, while a democracy cannot survive as such without safeguarding liberty – including to criticise and ‘send back home’ those in power. Following the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 the issue became especially acute, and heavily reflected on policies in the European Union (EU) as well as in the relation between the EU and the USA. The changes taking place in the USA with the election of President Obama and those, admittedly less visible, taking place in the EU – including the election of the new European Parliament and the fate of the Lisbon Treaty – provide an interesting occasion for some reflection on the kind of continuity or change that may be expected in EU-US relations in handling the relations between security and liberty.