The Foreign Service Journal, November 2004

thy aspiration, and the president could not have said it better: “our security is not merely found in spheres of influence, or some balance of power. The security of our world is found in the advancing rights of mankind.” The real issue lies in the gap between the goal and the resources to achieve it. Only a renew- al of transatlantic unity can fill that gap. And only the help of the “defunct” United Nations will allow the pursuit of democracy to be seen as anything other than an American cru- sade to impose subject governments worldwide. The Atlantic Partnership Turning the tide at the United Nations must begin with rejuvenating the Euroatlantic partnership. Yet the value of such solidarity seems to be forgotten in some quarters today, leaving national security to be under- stood only in the narrowest of terms. Perhaps this is willful amnesia, or just a perverse reaction to the age of high globalization, in which nations are more interdependent than ever. Either way, it must give way to com- mon sense. “Imperial overstretch” was a premature diagnosis — at least with regard to the United States — when historian Paul Kennedy popu- larized the phrase in the late 1980s. Now it has to be taken seriously. No state, not even the most powerful, can survive and prosper outside a frame- work of international cooperation. The 20th century proved that nation- al sovereignty must coexist with inter- national organizations, like the U.N., which institutionalize cooperative behavior across borders. That is the essence of what was once known as Atlanticism, a move- ment that emerged in the fight against fascism and survived to unite the West against the Soviet threat while sowing the seeds of peaceful global integra- tion. Tyrannies were defeated but Atlanticism survives tenuously as an ideology in search of a role. That is a pity — and potentially a tragedy — yet one that can still be avoided if the leaders of the Security Council redis- cover the utility of collective security in the 21st century. Indeed, it is diffi- cult to conceive of a peaceful world in which its two most advanced and compatible regions, Europe and America, work at cross-purposes both internally and externally, and against the very institutions they designed 60 years ago to further their mutual interests. While national ambitions will always collide, the notion of “multipo- larity” for its own sake is just as dan- gerous as doctrinaire “unilateralism.” Both should be set aside in favor of the Atlanticism that served the world so well since the end of World War II. That spirit embodied the spirit of community or commonwealth. It is very different from ad hoc coalitions. And it must be made to work today — for there is no rational alternative.  N O V E M B E R 2 0 0 4 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 53 Home Suite Home The next time you’re going to be in DC for an extended stay, make yourself at home at Georgetown Suites. With our discounted monthly rates and large, comfortable suites, you’ll feel right at home. Plus we’re near the State Department. Call today! Georgetown Suites the fun place to stay in DC 1-800-348-7203 www.georgetownsuites.com sales@georgetownsuites.com