Abstract
The emergence of the post-Westphalian state has altered the security environment facing the states of the Atlantic Community. It has cast into doubt not only the preexisting definition of a security threat, but the way in which states must act in order to counter those threats. The changes that have taken place and are taking place in the international system suggests have thrust upon the states of the Atlantic community a ‘new’ security agenda, which requires a redoubled effort to expand and consolidate the western system of security governance where possible. These changes require that the institutions of European security governance, particularly NATO, the EU, and OSCE, play the necessary role of interlocutor between the northern European ‘civilian powers’ and the United States, a preeminent ‘normal power’, if these states are to meet collectively the security challenges of the decades to come.
