Academics and students from Rhein-Waal University of Applied Sciences and its partner university, Fitchburg State University, have conducted a survey on transatlantic relations amongst students at their respective universities. The vast majority of respondents value these relations and consider it important to strengthen the partnership between the US and Germany in the long term.
Seminars on transatlantic challenges at Rhein-Waal University of Applied Sciences brought together academics and students from the faculties in Kleve and Kamp-Lintfort with the International Relations/European Class at Fitchburg State University in Massachusetts. Both universities used last year’s visit from their American partner university to develop ideas for expanding the partnership.
In the months that followed, the professors in charge – Professor Dr Alexander Brand, Professor of Political Science specialising in International Relations; Professor Dr Klaus Hegemann, Professor of General Business Administration; and Professor Dr Joshua Spero, Professor of Political Science at Fitchburg State University – continued to emphasise the importance of joint dialogue and open exchange, in light of political developments and, in particular, against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim was to strengthen the partnership between the universities through joint research activities. Among other things, this has led to a research project on transatlantic relations, which also aims to build greater trust between the younger generations. The project will examine the following question in more
detail: Are transatlantic relations a thing of the past? Are young people on both sides of the Atlantic drifting apart from one another today? To this end, the researchers and students involved in the project from Rhein-Waal University of Applied Sciences and Fitchburg State University conducted a preliminary survey amongst students at both universities in Germany and the USA. Despite the COVID-19 crisis and the shift to online teaching in both countries, a total of 400 students took part in the voluntary survey. A broad range of students across all academic disciplines were reached via the student unions’ media channels and the online teaching platforms used at both campuses.
The overwhelming majority of students surveyed value transatlantic relations and consider it important to strengthen the partnership between the USA and Germany in the long term. Of the participants at Rhein-Waal University of Applied Sciences, 67 per cent agreed with this; at Fitchburg State University, the figure was 73 per cent. It should be borne in mind, however, that participation was voluntary and that, accordingly, it was primarily students with an interest in politics who took part. Indeed, 80 per cent of those surveyed stated that they keep up to date with current affairs.
The fact that between 75 and 80 per cent attach particular importance to intensive exchange and close student contact between Germany and the US highlights the continued interest in strengthening transatlantic relations amongst students on both sides of the Atlantic. Given that, at the same time, two-thirds (Germany) and three-quarters (USA) of current students see themselves as future leaders in society, the future of the ‘transatlantic bond’ appears to be in good shape, despite all the current political developments.
However, differences do exist in the responses to questions on foreign and global policy. Whilst, for example, a majority (52 per cent) of students at Fitchburg State University support a country prioritising its national interests over those of the international community, only just under a third (30.4 per cent) of students at Rhein-Waal University of Applied Sciences agree with this. And although only 19 per cent of the students surveyed in the US support their country taking on a greater military role globally, this figure is still twice as high as among the participating students in Germany (9.6 per cent). However, in the view of the researchers involved, it would be too bold to interpret these figures as a so-called ‘Trump effect’. This
is particularly true given that there are otherwise striking similarities between the two survey groups: the form of international engagement by the US and Germany that is by far the most favoured by both groups of students is humanitarian missions. Furthermore, when it comes to the EU having greater autonomy from the US, the views of the two student groups do not appear to differ greatly. A majority of students at the German university would welcome the German government advocating for greater autonomy of this kind within the EU (53.5 per cent). By contrast, only 11.8 per cent of students in Fitchburg reject the idea that the US should also support greater autonomy for the EU.
An interesting picture emerges regarding the stationing of US troops in Germany and the troop withdrawal recently raised as a possibility by the US government. However, this certainly requires further research and nuanced explanations. For instance, only a minority of students surveyed at Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences (15.6 per cent) regarded US troops as crucially important for transatlantic relations. On the US side, by contrast, 43 per cent emphasised their importance, although here too a majority did not regard this aspect as a key determining factor for good relations between the US and Germany. In any case, according to the pilot study, the majority of participating students on both sides of the Atlantic do not appear to believe that the announcement of the troop withdrawal will automatically lead to a deterioration in German-American relations.
The research, initiated by academics and students in Kleve, Kamp-Lintfort and Fitchburg, is now set to be expanded in a next step into a representative survey of students at several university locations in the US and Germany. In terms of content, the aim is also to investigate any changes brought about by the coronavirus crisis. As the participating professors emphasise, it is particularly important to continue involving interested students and early-career researchers in the project – not merely as respondents, but also as researchers themselves, as was already the case during the joint, transatlantic development of the pilot study.
