ABSTRACT
With the end of the Cold War Europe has entered a new strategic era, one that is characterized by the absence of a permanent, long-term uniform threat and in which the risks and threats to Western Europe’s security have become more diverse and less direct. As the poor performance of the West in dealing with the war in former Yugoslavia has shown, the existing multilateral security institutions have yet to demonstrate their ability and adaptability in this new strategic environment. On the other hand, there is widespread consensus that the need for multilateral action is imperative to the preservation of the national security of Western European countries.1
