Atlanticism is a philosophy of cooperation among Western European and North American nations (specifically the United States and Canada) regarding political, economic, and defense issues, with the purpose to maintain the security of the participating countries, and to protect the values that unite them: "democracy, individual liberty, and the rule of law." One who shares the idea of Atlanticism is known as an Atlantist or an Atlanticist; the name derives from the Atlantic Ocean that separates the two continents — or, as seafaring nations will say, the ocean that connects the two continents, and ultimately from NATO. Atlanticism is alien to continentalism but not necessarily to Pacificism.
The North Atlantic Council is the premier, governmental forum for discussion and decision-making in an Atlantic context. Well-known Atlanticists include former US Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan, former British Prime Ministers Winston Churchill, Margaret Thatcher, Tony Blair, and Gordon Brown, Zbigniew Brzezinski and Javier Solana. NATO is an Atlanticist organization, and the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is an Atlanticist project. Central and Eastern Europe is a region where Atlanticism is especially strong. Countries such as Poland, Romania, Georgia are among those who profess a strong Atlanticist view.
Atlanticism has undergone significant changes in the 21st century in light of terrorism and the Iraq war, the net effect being a renewed questioning of the idea itself and a new insight that the security of the respective countries may require alliance action outside the North Atlantic territory. After the September 11, 2001, attacks, NATO for the first time invoked Article 5, which states that any attack on a member state will be considered an attack against the entire group of members. Planes of NATO's multi-national AWACS unit patrolled the U.S. skies and European countries deployed personnel and equipment. In 2006, the North Atlantic Council declared that NATO's key priority was to contribute to the peace and stability in Afghanistan. By the end of 2006, the Atlantic organization had about 32,000 troops in Afghanistan (including 11,000 Americans under its command). However, the Iraq war caused fissures between certain Western European states and the US as well as Central and Eastern European states such as Poland. Some countries which supported the Iraq war, such as Spain and Italy, saw their generally pro-Iraq war governments lose in recent elections. Tony Blair, however, was re-elected, notwithstanding his relationship with President Bush, and support for the Iraq war. The implication of Romania and Poland in secret CIA-run prisons from 2003 to 2005 (both countries denied the existence of such prisons) hurt the Atlanticist idea. More recently, Germany, and, in May, 2007, France, saw the election of Atlanticist-leaning leaders, notwithstanding widespread, continuing opposition to the war in Iraq. While political infighting within NATO between the United States and European Union have strained the organization since the struggle to suppress the Taliban, relations appear to be improving, especially in light of the 2008 South Ossetia war between Russia and Georgia.