1. In the coming decades, Europe’s influence on affairs beyond its borders will be sharply limited, and it is in other regions, not Europe, that the 21st century will be most clearly forged and defined. Certainly, one reason for NATO’s increasing marginalization stems from the behavior of its European members. With NATO, critical decisions are still made nationally; much of the talk about a common defense policy remains just that — talk. There is little specialization or coordination. Missing as well are many of the logistical and intelligence assets needed to project military force on distant battlefields. With the Cold War and the Soviet threat a distant memory, there is little political willingness, on a country-by-country basis, to provide adequate public funds to the military.
在接下來的幾十年里，歐洲對國際事務的影響力將會銳減，推動和定義21世紀的將是世界上的其他地區，絕非歐洲。誠然，北約不斷被邊緣化，部分原因歸咎于它的歐洲成員國。在北約，各國獨自做出重大決斷；關于共同防御政策的談判，到目前依然僅僅還是個談判；分工協調微乎其微；將軍事力量投放到遙遠戰場所需的許多后勤保障和情報資源也處于缺失狀態。冷戰和蘇聯威脅都已成為遙遠的回憶，各國沒有多少政治意愿向軍隊提供充足的公共資金。

2. Political and demographic changes within Europe, as well as the United States, also ensure that the transatlantic alliance will lose prominence. In Europe, the E.U. project still consumes the attention of many, but for others, especially those in southern Europe facing unsustainable fiscal shortfalls, domestic economic turmoil takes precedence. No doubt, Europe’s security challenges are geographically, politically and psychologically less immediate to the population than its economic ones. Mounting financial problems and the imperative to cut deficits are sure to limit what Europeans can do militarily beyond their continent. It is true that the era in which Europe and transatlantic relations dominated U.S. foreign policy is over.
歐洲內部及美國在政治和人口結構方面的變化也注定了這個跨大西洋聯盟會失去其重要性。在歐洲，歐盟一體化方案仍然得到了許多國家的關注，但是對于其他國家來說，特別是對于歐洲南部出現難以為繼的財政赤字的國家來說，國內的經濟亂象卻是列居首位的。無疑，歐洲的安全難題在地理、政治和心理方面對于歐洲人的影響都不像經濟難題那么緊迫。日益突出的金融問題和削減赤字的必要性必定會限制歐洲各國在歐洲大陸以外所能采取的軍事行動。確實，歐洲和跨大西洋關系主導美國外交政策的時代已經結束。