Diplomacy surrounding the commencement of the war in Iraq illuminated the complex relationship among the United States, the EU—especially its traditional Franco-German core—and the countries of Central Europe. The ties of the latter states to the Soviet bloc are a fading memory, and their formal integration into the EU and NATO is nearly complete. The next great test of their post-communist foreign policy is responding to competing pressures for loyalty from their partners in the West. Their choices will play a major role in shaping the broad contours of transatlantic relations for the next decades.

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