The final months of 2000 will be a critical time in Brussels. From now until the end of the year, we will be working to validate the proposition that, working together, NATO and the European Union can enhance European security and, at the same time, strengthen the transatlantic link. This is the premise on which the United States' support for the European Security and Defence Identity ESDI has long been founded. It was the basis for Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott's unequivocal statement at the North Atlantic Council last December: "There should be no confusion about America's position on the need for a stronger Europe. We are not against it; we are not ambivalent; we are not anxious; we are for it. We want to see a Europe that can act effectively through the Alliance or, if NATO is not engaged, on its own. Period. End of debate."