Foreword

Leslie H. Gelb

Independent Task Force Report
The Future of Transatlantic Relations

February 1999

Council on Foreign Relations

 

Throughout the Cold War, the United States and Western Europe were inextricably bound together in the Atlantic alliance by the requirement to deter Soviet aggression in Europe. The overwhelming danger posed by Moscow served to cement this alliance, suppressing or at least minimizing differences, and making common defense the defining characteristic of transatlantic relations. As the Soviet empire and system crumbled, many policymakers and scholars at the time worried that the absence of this threat would significantly weaken alliance cohesion and ultimately damage the broader U.S.-European relationship.

With these concerns in mind, the Council on Foreign Relations sponsored this Independent Task Force on the Future of Transatlantic Relations. We chose Robert D. Blackwill, a widely respected former career diplomat and Harvard scholar, to serve as Chairman and Project Director and to author the Task Force Report. We also invited a highly diverse and experienced corps of American and European policymakers, diplomats, analysts, and business and opinion leaders to participate in the Task Force deliberations. The Council wishes to thank all of them for their time and contributions.

Strikingly, despite differences on specific points or tactical issues, Task Force members agreed clearly and strongly on the inherent value of the transatlantic relationship and the merit of endeavoring to create a more vigorous and robust partnership capable of addressing a diverse set of international concerns over the long term. Intrinsic in every prescription is the conviction that protecting U.S. and European interests in the period ahead would certainly benefit from intensified transatlantic cooperation. While some might argue that there are other conceivable global partners for the United States, the report effectively argues that the U.S.-European relationship must be at the center of American efforts to forge a new world order. As the Council forwards this report, we hope that it will contribute to the current policy debate on both sides of the Atlantic and help stimulate a more comprehensive assessment in Washington, Brussels, and other European capitals on the opportunities that currently exist for the transatlantic partners to shape the international system in the next decade and beyond.

Leslie H. Gelb, President, Council on Foreign Relations