Ronald D. Asmus

Building a New NATO

Three years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, Europe is headed toward crisis. Memories of democracys triumph have faded. The immense problems facing the new democracies in the East are increasingly compounded by political gridlock, economic recession and resurgent nationalism. The revolutions of 1989 not only toppled communism; they unleashed a set of dynamics that have unraveled the peace orders of Yalta and Versailles. War in the Balkans, insta bility in East-Central Europe and the former Soviet Union, growing doubts about the European Communitys future as well as the future role of the United States?all underscore the lack of any stable post Cold War European security order. Nationalism and ethnic conflict have already led to two world wars in Europe. Whether Europe unravels for a third time this century depends on if the West summons the political will and strategic vision to address the causes of potential instability and conflict before it is too late. A new U.S.-European strategic bargain is needed, one that extends nato s collective defense and security arrangements to those areas where the seeds for future conflict in Europe lie: the Atlantic alliances eastern and southern borders.

Nothing to Fear: Washington Should Embrace the European Union

In “Saving nato From Europe,” (November/December 2004), Jearey L. Cimbalo warns that a dagger is pointed at the heart of the Atlantic alliance, and the murder weapon is the European Union’s draft constitution. Ratification of that document, Cimbalo asserts, would have “profound and troubling implications for the transatlantic alliance and for future U.S. influence in Europe.” Washington, he believes, should “end its uncritical support for European integration” and work with its friends in Europe to halt the eu process and save nato from an untimely death. In our view, Cimbalo’s article is an example of much that is wrong with U.S. thinking about the eu and the transatlantic alliance today. Our point of departure is the conviction that the United States needs a strong, selfconfident European partner that can bring its political, economic, and military weight to bear in addressing threats to common interests in Europe and beyond. Support from Washington’s richest, most democratic, and most militarily powerful partners can help spread the burdens of maintaining global security, expanding democracy, and supporting humanitarian aims. European backing also helps provide legitimacy for U.S. policies and thus makes them more sustainable. Many of the greatest challenges faced by the United States in the world today—stabilizing Iraq, stopping proliferation in Iran, building an IsraeliPalestinian peace, transforming the Middle East, and preserving the environment—are hard enough to meet with European support. Without that support, reaching those goals will be close to impossible.