I. A Shrinking Atlantic: Putting Europe and the US at the Core of Global Responsibilities

II. The Transatlantic Partnership: Similar Societies Facing XXIst Century Challenges

III. The Transatlantic Citizens Agenda: Concrete Projects

Henry Kissinger recently remarked that Transatlantic relations are worse today than at any point since the second World War. Even in the Prague NATO summit, there are suspicions on the European side that the US is just trying to weaken the EU's own rapid reaction force by proposing a similar (smaller) NATO force, and the US is distinctly unhappy that it will only receive lukewarm backing for its initiatives on Iraq. The situation is much like an auto mechanic who complains, "I couldn't fix your brakes so I made your horn louder." The EU and US continue to collide over a series of disputes and the response has been to escalate the rhetoric of negative diplomacy. Quite clearly, we must address the underlying problems before they spiral beyond control. The official channels are not operating to yield solutions but merely to defend self-interests. Civil society has a responsibility to become creatively engaged in the process.

Transatlantic Civil Society: Facing the Impact of Globalization

Bearing this obligation in mind, a conference 'Reshaping Transatlantic Relations for the XXIst century: the citizens' perspective' was organised by the Transatlantic Information Exchange Service (www.tiesweb.org), in Miami Florida on 15-17 November. The event came at the right moment. The aim of the conference was, in part, to see if civil society from Europe and America could produce a more coherent - and constructive - agenda for Transatlantic relations than the politicians have managed. The Congress considered the two dimensions of transatlantic interaction that have generated the most controversy, the impact of globalization and its consequences for society. While globalization is the focus of headlines and constitutes the motor of the global system, society is the battleground where the outcome of the changes will be experienced. Obviously, as seen below from the very lively and constructive debates as well as from the 5 concrete follow-up projects of the conference, civil society (250 participants and speakers from 17 EU countries and 15 US states) is able to pave the way for a renewed Transatlantic relationship. The output of the conference is "The Transatlantic Citizens Agenda" that focuses on generating concrete events-rather than grand declarations-as the appropriate means to improve an alliance suffering from the pressures of globalization.

I. A Shrinking Atlantic: Putting Europe and the US at the Core of Global Responsibilities

The 'Atlantic Rim' includes Latin America and Africa
One-way to make Europe "relevant" to America is to transform Transatlantic relations into something genuinely Transatlantic. After all, the Atlantic is not just bounded by Europe and the US: Western Africa and Eastern Latin America are equally Atlantic in orientation. Given that today's challenges are in the developing world, these are the countries that need to be anchored into a new world system. Events and initiatives--which could range from building an Erasmus programme for the entire zone through to a free trade area that cover the entire Transatlantic basin--would allow Europeans to bring their skills and knowledge of transnational networking, the US to provide leadership, and Latin Americans and Africans to supply dynamism. This approach would render Europe relevant to the US as a partner in solving a broader problem. To be sure, a broader cross-section of US society would become engaged and committed to the process because it is building a bridge notably to African-Americans and "Latinos".

In the middle of the Middle East: Transatlantic Involvement in the Continuous Israeli/Palestinian Conflict
On a civil society level, the problems of the Middle East loom large. It is true that a transatlantic divide exists on the root problem of the region. Europeans view the US as unconditionally pro-Israel while Americans consider Europe as pro-Arab and anti-Semitic. The result has been to cause damage to Transatlantic relations.
Part of the problem in the Middle East itself is the absence of any longer term vision of how a peaceful scenario would look in the future, say in the year 2020. In the absence of a vision, the two sides are trapped in the spiral of daily revenge based on past abuses. Hence one thing that European and American civil societies could bring to the region--to the extent that outsiders can play any role--is a joint approach to help the indigenous populations develop common visions of the future. By being a Transatlantic initiative, both Israeli and Palestinian fears of the "bias" expressed by Europeans or Americans would be calmed.

Open up: Americans and Europeans Are Ready to Cross the Atlantic
There is a need for civil society to push the problems that are associated with moving between the two continents. Since we are talking about two of the richest parts of the planet, why should there be the need for such arduous visa procedures, as at present, if a US citizen wishes to live in the EU or vice-versa? It is not as if a flood of emigrants are likely to head in one direction or the other as a result, but it would certainly encourage the Transatlantic pollination of ideas that is so necessary if we are to maintain a close relationship at a time when the politicians and diplomats have their focus elsewhere in the world.

II. The Transatlantic Partnership: Similar Societies Facing XXIst Century Challenges

Seminar B of the Congress explored four areas of social existence in the transatlantic context: environment, the impact of technology, immigration and values, and urban stress.
Today the American and the European societies are more similar than they have ever been in the past two centuries. In terms of wealth, technological development, values, economic and trade relations, education, … they are closer than ever. Without underplaying the large number of current and future differences, it attracts our attention on the surprising fact that the top of the two pyramids seem to be more and more diverging while the base of each pyramid looks more and more similar.

Europeans and Americans Rank Social Concerns in Identical Order
It is significant that both sides of the Atlantic agree on the problems that require immediate resolution. A study released by the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations and the German Marshall Fund discovered that Europeans and Americans rank social concerns in an identical order. However, significant disagreement exists on the solutions to apply. This means that transatlantic dialogue at the civil society level is important to encourage if a common approach is to be defined. Indeed, political leaders are unable to respond to social issues that transcend the Atlantic if their publics are pressing in contradictory directions. Thus a consensus is critical to develop to move beyond the prevailing stalemate. Since the transatlantic relationship is experiencing the shock of globalization earlier than other parts of the world, it represents the pilot project on how to adapt to a new global system. For that reason, the transatlantic alliance deserves priority at the policymaking levels of the EU and US. Civil society cannot expect harmony but it should demand a greater respect for tolerance.

Sustainable Development Is a Goal Shared by Both Sides of the Atlantic
In terms of the environment, the discussions reached accord that the goal on both sides of the Atlantic is sustainable development. Yet there is divergence on the appropriate approach to adopt to reach this goal. The European public prefers to rely upon international rules to maintain global solidarity in the battle to improve living standards. Moreover, Europeans are willing to allow developing countries to relax rules in order to close the economic gap with more technologically advanced nations. The American public, on the other hand, favors a market-oriented formula to environmental degradation because it is more practical and does not sacrifice upon economic growth. Since the problem has global dimensions, the consensus in the US is that developing countries should abide by the same standards to avoid unnecessary delay in abating environmental decline. To reconcile such disparate attitudes, an information campaign on environmental challenges should take precedence in fostering transatlantic harmony on the environment. It is only in this way that civil societies can unite on a common problem.

A significant Demographic Shift will Complicate the Transatlantic Partnership
As discussed in the session on immigration, a significant demographic shift will soon be complicating the transatlantic partnership. Shared values have acted as the glue that holds together the relationship. This cultural symmetry is likely to change. At present, the median age is 37.7 in the EU and 35.5 in the US. By 2025, it is estimated that the median age in the EU will jump to 45.4 while the US will increase only slightly to 39.3. What is accounting for the demographic trends are different fertility and immigration rates. As a result, continental interests will likely diverge on numerous fronts, including underlying value structures. The domestic agenda of the EU will be dominated by concerns over pensions while the US, with a younger population and a different ethnic base, will be more culturally aligned with Latin America than Europe. Given this scenario, civil society needs to begin listening to the groups that are least listened to at the moment so that we are prepared when values begin to digress.

Urban Areas Are Under Similar Pressures on Both Sides of the Atlantic
The session on urban stress took note of the homogenization of identity that is being produced by globalization. The problem is that globalization is equated with "Americanism" and this equation is distorting the transatlantic relationship. Europeans complain of the "hire and fire" economy and use this logic to blame many urban ills on the US as the root cause. In reality, it should be understood that urban areas are under similar pressures on both sides of the Atlantic: economic disenfranchisement, skill obsolescence, and the concentration of poverty. Since the problems of urban zones can be attributed to multiple sources, a holistic approach is warranted that relies upon multi-agency cooperation. The era of governmental agencies acting in isolation is no longer sufficient in the age of globalization. In addition, community involvement is essential to formulate a plan that is appropriate to the special needs of each urban context. The one-size-fits-all mentality to urban blight is no longer relevant. As such, it will be necessary to network local groups with governmental agencies and, in turn, to network the networks to yield a common transatlantic strategy toward globalization. There is no other workable solution in the current international environment where the source of urban stress transcends national borders.

III. Five concrete projects on the Transatlantic Citizens Agenda

The spirit and momentum generated by the first edition of the Miami Transatlantic 21st Congress gave birth not only to useful analysis and discussions but it produced a true agenda composed of 5 concrete projects. Each of these projects will be implemented by participants from the congress. None of them will wait for any support or 'greenlight' of any. All of them aim at serving citizens' dialogs and will be well advanced by the next Miami Transatlantic Citizens 21st Week (Miami TAC21 Week) on April 26th - 30th 2004.

Project 1: Democratizing Transatlantic Debates by Establishing 'Multilingual Transatlantic Online Discussions.'
This format was piloted by Politalk in cooperation with TIESWEB in 2001 and 2002 to prepare for the Miami congress. The new project will target 'hot Transatlantic issues' for a few weeks of discussion. Discussions will be moderated and take place simultaneously in several languages. The diversity of languages is a requirement if we want to see more Europeans involved because only a very small minority (most of them part of the elites outside UK and Ireland) are able to express themselves in English on political or social issues.

Project 2: Bringing Transatlantic Debates to the People.
A series of "Transatlantic Debates" will be organized with two speakers (one US and one EU) in several EU and US cities. The debates will start in 2003 with three in the US (Miami, Indianapolis and Washington DC) and three in the EU (Paris, Amsterdam and Munich). The speakers will be Mr. Gary Geipel, Director of the Hudson Institute, and Franck Biancheri, Director of Europe 2020.

Project 3: Diversifying and Democratizing Transatlantic Debates and Visions.
A new section will be created on TIESWEB called 'Transatlantic Visions'. Starting in January 2003, eight columnists (Americans and Europeans) will write short articles every month (2 per week) on current EU/US issues.

Project 4: Addressing the Middle East Crisis.
From January 2003 till December 2005, the "Middle East 2020 Project" will work at producing different scenarios for a peaceful and prosperous Middle East by 2020. The project will involve EU and US civil societies in collaboration with similar groups in the Middle East. This team will work mostly through Internet discussions. The outcome will be designed to target the generation of 15/25 years old. 'To keep on waging a war, you just need to remember the past. To build a common future you need to have a dream.' Maybe US and EU citizens together can help dreams emerged.

Project 5: Reconvening in Miami in 18 months.
In order to keep the momentum going and to serve as a deadline for implementation of this first Transatlantic Citizens Agenda, the next gathering for EU and US citizens will take place in Miami on April 26th/30th 2004. It will be called "The Miami Transatlantic Citizens 21st Week" and will sponsor several events:
. A congress entitled 'Reshaping Transatlantic Relations for the XXIst Century: The Citizens'Perspective Reconsidered'. The conference will constitute a 3 day event with 250 participants who will assess the implemented projects and prepare a revised Transatlantic Citizens Agenda.
. A seminar on 'The Atlantic Rim: A Promising Future for Transatlantic Cooperation.' This gathering will last or 2 days and involve 50 participants from Europe, North America, South America and Africa.
. A student conference called 'Younger Generations Building Partnerships Across the Atlantic'. The conference will be organized by students for students and will bring together 200 participants for 2 days.
. A half-day conference in which 2,000 college students interact with top European and American keynote speakers.
. A week of Transatlantic cultural events: painting, video art, dance and music.

With the support of Miami and Florida authorities and citizens as well as a large involvement of citizens and associations, universities, colleges, foundations, medias, … throughout Europe and the USA, the next 16 months will provide a unique opportunity to enlarge Transatlantic relations to people in a constructive way. The coming months will show to all specialists of EU/US relations that this evolution is not only useful but just simply necessary if we want to avoid a major drift between the two major democratic areas in the world.