Ambassador Robert D. Blackwill argues that even though there has been a systemic decline in Russia's relations with the West, the US and other Western powers should forgive their offenses in order to develop sound policy for what should be the West's highest priority- ensuring Iran does not gain possession of nuclear weapons.

Unlike the new and largely peaceful Europe, the Asia-Pacific region is fraught with old instabilities and new risks, as well as opportunities. America's Asian alliances face an arc of potential instability, from the divided Korean peninsula in Northeast Asia, to the nuclear confrontation between India and Pakistan on the South Asian subcontinent, to an unstable Indonesia in Southeast Asia. The United States and its allies must also address the rise of Chinese power, slow the spread of nuclear and high-tech conventional weapons, maintain access to energy resources, and expand the world free-trade system.

The shifting global security and defense landscape of the post-Cold War era has led the West to reexamine regional priorities and existing international institutions. Many scholars have written on how best to coordinate policy on the security of Central Europe and the states of the former Soviet Union, and on reforming NATO and the OSCE. Very few scholars, however, have prescribed policy for transatlantic cooperation toward threats that transcend Europe and NATO, especially in the Middle East.

Chapter 9 in New Nuclear Nations: Consequences for U.S. Policy