Since the late 20th and early 21st centuries, leading American analysts and experts have actively developed various strategies aimed at maintaining U.S. competitiveness in the global struggle for leadership. Following the collapse of the bipolar system of international relations, the European Union – an organization exhibiting supranational characteristics – emerged as an independent center of power with its own distinct policies. This development did not go unnoticed in Washington. The United States perceives the rise of new power centers as a challenge to its global hegemony, leading to a certain clash of interests between European Union member states and the White House. In the early 2000s, the Clinton administration introduced the “programming leadership strategy” to manage transatlantic relations. This strategy was designed to keep European allies within the sphere of American influence. Since its inception, this concept has continued to shape U.S. policy toward the European Union, reflecting an ongoing effort to maintain strategic leverage over its European counterparts.
U.S.-EU relations; programming leadership; transatlantic relations; NATO; European Union.