U.S. + Europe > China + Russia 

                or better still: 

North America + Europe + x > China + Russia + n 

(Where x is the addition of open-market democracies, and n could be Iran, North Korea, terrorists, etc.) 

In light of the realities we face, Transatlantic Strategic Autonomy, our collective ability to sustain indefinitely our activities in pursuit of our own interests according to our values, must be the test we apply to our multilateral efforts. Built on resilient national, European, and American sovereignty as expressed through multilateral organizations and in pursuit of objectives cooperatively determined, our ability to maintain our collective autonomy at the speed of relevance will determine our respective futures.  As a former U.S. ambassador to France, Benjamin Franklin, said as the American colonies struggled to become resilient, unified, and autonomous, “We must, indeed, all hang together, or most assuredly we shall all hang separately.”

Michael Ryan served as the U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for European and NATO Policy from October 2019 to October 2020.

Valbona Zeneli is the Chair of the Strategic Initiatives Department at the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies.

The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Department of Defense or the U.S. government. 

Image: Reuters