As the 21^st century unfolds, cooperation among the democracies and market economies of the West becomes ever more crucial in dealing with the security issues and economic problems of global politics. One of the salient features of contemporary European politics, however, is its tendency to focus insufficiently on America and on the Transatlantic Relationship.

In fact, research and teaching on contemporary US and Latin American politics, security in the Atlantic, or transatlantic innovation policy do not reflect the importance of the US to Europe in solving global challenges such as democratization, terrorism, trade, proliferation, financial regulation, or the drug trade, to name but a few.

Since progress on these issues requires intensive cooperation among the Western democracies, with the US-European relationship at the core, a particular effort is called for. We at IE have launched the Transatlantic Relations Initiative (TRI) to foster applied and interdisciplinary work on the Atlantic world, its many challenges and the numerous opportunities available for cooperation.