Re-launching the Transatlantic Security Partnership

The relationship between the United States and Europe has gone through a period of unprecedented strain under the two-term tenure of US President George W. Bush. His Administration's instinctive preference for unilateral action and readiness to resort to pre-emptive use of force have proven to be highly controversial, to the point that European Union governments have struggled to find a balance between their traditional support for Washington and their resolve to keep unity within the EU. The US security paradigm shift from territorial defence to protection against asymmetrical threats has impacted profoundly on the transatlantic relationship and US and European leaders have not been able to manage the transformation process in a consistent way. A frank, open and in-depth debate on the distinct US and European security priorities is still needed. This publication is meant as a contribution to such a debate.

Proceedings of the first edition of the Transatlantic Security Symposium, organised in Rome on 12-13 May 2008 by the IAI in cooperation with the European Union Institute for Security Studies (EU-ISS) of Paris and the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) of Washington. Some papers were also selected for publication in The International Spectator: Shapiro (No. 3/2008), Dobbins (No. 4/2008) and Wilkinson (No. 4/2008).