Upcoming

Streit Council joins the Atlantic Council of the U.S. and the Allied Command Transformation’s Department of Strategic Vision, NATO Public Diplomacy Division in Sponsoring the Achilles Seminar on Transformation and the Transatlantic Relationship
October 16 - 19 2006, Washington, DC
Named for former Vice Deputy of the North Atlantic Council and Atlantic Council Chairman Theodore Achilles, this four-day conference will offer briefings on defense policy with government officials, think tanks analysts, and other experts in Washington DC. Then, students will travel to Norfolk, Virginia to visit Allied Command - Transformation (act) and learn about new directions in military capabilities and doctrine and how these will affect nato and its operations. The Atlantic Council of the U.S. is working with Allied Command Transformation’s Department of Strategic Vision., NATO Public Diplomacy Division, and the Streit Council for a Union of Democracies to coordinate this event. Read More Learn more about Theodore Achilles

Past Events

"Global Threats, Atlantic Structures"
Challenges ahead for Atlantic Institutions

September 21-22, 2006 Washington DC.

The event was jointly organized by the Streit Council, the Hudson Institute and Radio Free Europe. The conference featured a variety of foreign policy experts and officials from both sides of the Atlantic to discuss how transatlantic structures should be adapted to meet the imperatives of the 21st-century. These specialists addressed whether an effective transatlantic homeland security system could be created; what role NATO can play in meeting new threats; the future of the trans-Atlantic economy; and whether an Atlantic identity exists or should be forged to meet the ideological challenges of the 21st-century. See More

What's New...

NATO's Renaissance
October 11
Last week, NATO assumed command over some 32,000 peacekeeping troops from 37 countries in Afghanistan, including 12,000 U.S. forces in the eastern part of
the country. The move confirmed that the half-century-old organization has
entered a new era -- and is now facing unprecedented challenges. As Ivo Daalder
and James Goldgeier point out in the latest issue of Foreign Affairs, NATO is
going global, expanding both its geographical reach and the scope of its
operations. But, warned Strobe Talbott four years ago, to succeed, the
U.S.-dominated organization will have to remain cohesive despite growing rifts
between the United States and its other members. Daalder and Goldgeier Strobe Talbott

How to keep NATO relevant
Charles A. Kupchan International Herald Tribune
October 5
As next month's NATO summit meeting in Latvia draws near, debate is heating up over how to ready the alliance to meet the challenges of the future. Many of the ideas on the table are impressively bold, envisaging a NATO that not only continues to take in Europe's new democracies, but also extends its membership and missions well beyond the European heartland.
Such expansive proposals might be alluring in their ambition, but they are more likely to lead to NATO's demise than its renewal. With the alliance already overextended in Afghanistan, NATO's current agenda should focus on consolidation, not on pursuing a global agenda that promises only to saddle the organization with an unsustainable range of commitments.
Many prominent analysts think NATO should become the go-to organization for the world's most pressing security challenges. By adding countries as far flung as Japan and Australia to its ranks, some say, NATO would enhance its legitimacy and fortify itself with the troop contributions of its many new members. But such visions are woefully divorced from today's strategic realities. To be sure, NATO could use a fresh supply of able soldiers, but it does not need to extend its reach to the Pacific to get them. Read More

 

Merkel for EU Agreement with US
October 2
With the Doha Round of trade talks threatening to come to naught, German Chancellor Angela Merkel has come up with a plan B: a free-trade zone with the US. Such a zone would encompass 60 percent of the global economy.
The World Trade Organization has set a difficult task for itself. Since the Doha Round of negotiations began in November 2001, the WTO has been trying to come up with a tariffs and trade agreement that all members can agree on. Success depends on satisfying the 149 countries participating -- which is far from an easy task. The talks collapsed most recently in late July of this year.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, though, has a backup plan. Should the Doha talks ultimately prove untenable, she is open to the idea of forming a trans-Atlantic free-trade zone between the European Union and the United States.Read More

 

Nato gets more US troops
October 2
Kabul - Nato will soon assume direct control over most military operations in Afghanistan, a move that will place 12 000 more US troops under its authority, a spokesperson for the alliance said.
The expansion will consolidate military command under top Nato leader British Lieutenant General David Richards and phase out the role of US Lieutenant General Karl Eikenberry, whose troops will be transferred to Nato, alliance spokesperson Mark Laity said on Sunday in Kabul.Read More

Transatlantic Trends is an annual public opinion survey examining American and European attitudes toward the transatlantic relationship. A project of the German Marshall Fund of the United States and the Compagnia di San Paolo, with additional support provided by Fundação Luso-Americana, Fundación BBVA, and the Tipping Point Foundation, this year’s survey examines what citizens on both sides of the Atlantic think about a broad range of topics, including: