The transatlantic crisis of 2003 was not only about the Iraq War. It concerned a range of foreign policy issues, as well as commitments to multilateralism and security institutions more broadly. The dispute over the International Criminal Court (ICC), for example, was frequently cited as evidence of a transatlantic rupture or a growing gap between Europe and America. The US proved deeply ambivalent about the idea of a permanent court with independent powers and weary about limiting its own foreign policy maneuverability. The European debate, while internally fragmented, generally supported a Court that mirrored its own structures, cut across power politics and extended a legal regime internationally. Barack Obama's election brought a new wave of optimism in transatlantic relations as many expected his foreign policies would be more aligned with European priorities. The tone improved decidedly in 2009, and because of political and humanitarian crises in Sudan the US prepared itself to engage constructively with the ICC. Nevertheless, as this article demonstrates, the US and Europe are still worlds apart on the ICC and the international legal order that it represents.

This article offers the central argument that universalisms – defined as narratives of identity and role-playing in International Relations (IR) – depict different roles and identities for the United States and the European Union (EU). On the one hand, America's universalism depicts the democratic city upon a hill that leads in the world by example and with power, hard and soft. On the other, Europe's universalism is a utopia (an ideal plan) and a fragile balance between supranationalism and intergovernmentalism, putting forward consensual but ambiguous notions of ‘civilian’ and ‘normative’ power. Despite ample evidence of its international primacy and potential, the EU insists on keeping a low profile in IR. As a result of these trends, the rhetoric of the West and common values on the basis of transatlantic relations are clearly undermined.

It is believed in some quarters that the transatlantic relationship has never endured a more trying decade than the last, and yet the ‘Obama effect’ seems to have resurrected it from beyond the ‘tipping point’. Can we conclude then that the crisis was not as damaging as feared? Or are we erroneously subscribing to inflated expectations of America's ability to change in the age of Obama? Without a reliable measure of what constitutes an exceedingly good or bad period in the relationship, any narrative that tells us we have ventured into the extreme seems inconclusive. America and Europe need each other, and contrary to far-reaching theories of demise or rebirth, this vital relationship will evolve not on the fringes but instead in moderation and into something more complete.

The Obama administration's first year in office has been characterised by the rhetorical rollback of the Bush administration's excesses and an emphasis on inclusiveness and restraint. This article considers the grand strategic response to the end of the Cold War of Obama's Democratic predecessor as President to highlight that the strategic challenges faced by the new President are more fundamental than simply reversing the policies of George W. Bush. So far, Obama has used rhetoric and engagement to buy time; it remains to be seen whether his policy of détente will be better understood in terms of the decline of American power.

Has the Obama administration opened a new era in the Middle East? The article argues that intentions and reality are still divergent. This is explained by several factors. Specific political contingencies in the region, the way in which the region's issues are interrelated and the domestic structure of US foreign policymaking, have all contributed to generate a situation of deadlock. The Obama administration and the reformers in the region, needs the active pressure of other international actors, starting with the EU, especially now that the latter and the US Middle East policies are significantly converging. The Middle East might be the site for testing a new transatlantic relationship.

Evaluations of research quality in universities are now widely used in the advanced economies. The UK's Research Assessment Exercise (RAE), which began in 1986, is the most highly developed of these research evaluations. Based on peer review and involving some sixty-nine panels evaluating the research work of more than 50,000 academic staff, the exercise is expensive and time consuming. In this article, we examine the possibility that a quantitative, metrics-based approach can provide a low-cost alternative to expensive, qualitative peer review. To do this, we build on our previous work on political science by extending a metrics-based model to chemistry, using the results of the 2001 RAE. Our results show that no single model will apply across science and non-science disciplines. Any metrics approach to performance evaluation has to use a discipline-specific suite of indicators.

Organising an academic conference is an experience that many social science scholars will undertake during their careers. There is however a lack of a developed academic literature that provides some guidelines. This article draws on the experiences of the authors in organising an international interdisciplinary conference at the University of Huddersfield in June 2008. It provides five key lessons that might assist colleagues within the profession in their organising of future conferences.

In any data analysis we should look for ability to predict and for connections to a broader comparative context. Our equations must not predict absurdities, even under extreme circumstances, if we want to be taken seriously as scientists. Poorly done linear regression analysis often does lead to absurd predictions. Fixed exponent and exponential patterns seem more prevalent in social nature than linear patterns. Before applying regression to two variables, graph them against each other, showing the borders of the conceptually allowed space and possible logical anchor points. Transform the data until anchor points and data points do fit a straight line which does not pierce conceptual ceilings or floors. During regression, consider symmetric regression, because Ordinary Least Squares y-on-x and x-on-y differ from each other and their slopes depend on the degree of scatter. After regression, look at the numerical values of parameters and ask what they tell us in a comparative context. When considering multivariable regression, pay more than lip service to Occam's Razor.

Age is often found to be associated with a plenitude of socioeconomic, politico-administrative, biological and thanatological variables. Much less attention has been paid by scholars, however, to explaining ‘age’. In this paper we address this unfortunate scientific lacuna by developing a model of ‘age’ as a function of several factors suggested by (post)rational choice and social constructionist theories. Using state-of-the-art multilevel statistical techniques, our analysis allows the determinants of age to vary with the institutional characteristics of European countries. Our findings convincingly show that generalized trust in strangers, support for incumbent extremist political parties in provincial elections held in the month of January, and the percentage of overqualified women in the cafeterias of national parliaments are all statistically significant explanations of ‘age’. Our findings have obvious implications for conspiracy theorists, organizational advisors, spin doctors and ordinary charlatans.

In a lecture given in 1991, while working on the never finished third volume of his series on theories of justice, Brian Barry gave a rare glimpse into the ideas with which he was wrestling – twenty years ahead of present-day political theorists. What is the role of the state, how are we to conceptualize it, in a world if globalization, and against the background of a legitimate appeal for international distributive justice?

This article looks at the design, development and delivery of the IR Model. The IR Model brings together best-practice in learning design and appreciation of e-learning in producing a distance learning programme in International Relations delivered 100 per cent online via a Virtual Learning Environment (Blackboard). The results of the IR Model are notable increases in student attainment over campus-based counterparts and an enhanced student experience, as well as being stimulating for academic teachers.

Ladies and Gentlemen, on my own behalf as a professor of international relations, and on behalf of my host institution here, IBEI, the Barcelona Institute for International Studies, I would like to thank you for the kind invitation to address your Graduate Conference here today, and to share some thoughts, born of the intersection of my field of specialisation, International Relations, with the experience of living, writing, research, working and listening in this city of Barcelona, and in the Catalan and Spanish contexts, these past 4 years.