The Transatlantic community: from regional alliance to global security hub?

This meeting offered the opportunity to discuss US security policy and priorities with regard to European allies. The luncheon guests considered crucial issues facing Western democracies today, from Afghanistan to Iraq, from Iran’s nuclear ambitions to the development of a greater multinational force capable of intervening quickly around the world. They also discussed issues of a more purely political nature on the transatlantic agenda, such as the direction Russia is taking in its political development and the possible enlargement of NATO as far as Ukraine. There are many points of uncertainty and doubt even in relations between NATO and the European Union, which has yet to unleash its full potential. Interest is growing for new partnerships of global range, with countries such as Australia, Japan and, later perhaps, India. At the same time, NATO members are seeking new ways of opening up and engaging (beyond the missions already underway), but so as to keep the alliance at the center of any decision-making about international security.