Atlantic Council - The United States and Central Europe: - TASKS FOR A SECOND CENTURY TOGETHER

year, and their success in democratic and free-market transformation, Central Europeans opened the door to a Europe whole, free, and at peace, allied with the The Hard Road to Success United States—a powerful center of a strengthened democratic community also known as the “Free World.” A narrative of tragedy and achievement emerges from the anniversaries marked in 2019, conveying the sweep The Uni. [...] European security and the start of the Second World War, in part the baleful result of US stra- With Central Europe’s subsequent accessions to NATO tegic withdrawal from Europe; and the European Union (EU), Central Europeans may have thought that their long road to the institutions of ¡ thirty years since the overthrow of the Soviet- the West, and to the security and prosperity associated imposed. [...] Causes include: economic stresses, including persistent unemployment and slow growth (especially in parts In the United States, years of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan of Europe); extreme and widening income disparities have fed dissatisfaction with the consequences of US (especially in the United States); the decline of tradi- leadership and commitments in the world. [...] a critical partner for the United States, and a shared transatlantic approach will strengthen the ability of In order to successfully reverse these trends and build both sides to maintain the principles of the democratic on the positive aspects of the current US strategy to- and free-market world order. [...] ATLANTIC COUNCIL 11 The United States and Central Europe: Tasks for a Second Century Together What, Then, Must the United States and Central Europe Do? Following Central Europe’s accession to NATO and the Conversely, the relationship will fade (and Russian and European Union, many on both sides of the Atlantic Chinese goals will advance) should the most nega- concluded that the United States’ work.