The disintegration of political authority and the instability of postcommunist Europe are moving faster than new or reformed institutions can handle. The U.S. role in Europe requires, as never before, a truly long-term vision. Founding a twenty-first century EuroAtlantic security community on a pillar designed for another era is discomfiting. The United States needs to see its European role as best protected through multiple institutions and its security as best supported by several stout pillars. The summit revealed a lack of vision regarding the notion of security itself.
Security rests in the dynamic balance between threats and capacities.
Threat abatement is the job of organizations devoted to collective security. The United States and its allies face new threats that can be neither contained nor deterred. A strategic review could and should have identified the need for a shift. Instead, photo opportunities and noble rhetoric about managing conflict, consultative processes, and expanding the CSCE's activities sufficed. NATO's leaders departed after acknowledging that security problems in the continent's post- communist half exist, but failed to provide more than liaison to the weak.