Transatlantic Allies and the Changing Middle East

Since the mid-1990s US and European attitudes, strategies and policies towards the Middle East have diverged. The issue of how to deal with Iran has been most divisive of all, with the US threatening to impose economic sanctions on its European allies to coerce them into following Washington's harder line. This paper examines the reasons for these potentially damaging differences and assesses the prospects for improving transatlantic cooperation in the region.