The Geopolitics of TTIP

In this Clingendael Policy Brief, Peter van Ham argues that The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) will play a major role in deciding the future of transatlantic security and defence. Futhermore, TTIP may rekindle the debate on a new coalition of like-minded and highly capable states, with the EU and the US at its core. TTIP’s logic is geopolitical in nature, seeking to compete with a rising Asia, rather than betting on global normative convergence. It is more than a game-changer, but the best chance the transatlantic West has to advance a liberal world order for the 21st century. TTIP may have a rather unpredictable impact on the future of the EU. Whether it will reinforce the EU’s path towards federalism, or undermine it, will become one of the most important side effects of TTIP.