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The Treaty of Lisbon, in line with the failed Constitutional Treaty and in the sequence of several initiatives which had taken place, came to provide for the mechanism of permanent structured cooperation. The goal of this mechanism is to enable the arising of a vanguard of Member States, eventually ready to form the embryo of a future European Union's exclusive defence system. Although permanent structured cooperation represents a step towards the application of the "community method" to security and defence of the European Union, it doesn't still fit in that pattern. Only future can tell, if permanent structured cooperation is likely to provide the European Union with a security and defence policy based on the "community method".

Northeast Asia is a political system divided & ripe for change, where the U.S. play the role of the offshore balancer & China can eventually become a potential hegemon. The future of this region is unclear & leads to three scenarios: the present aloofness, conflict, or cooperation. Trying to overcome the limits of neorealism, liberalism & constructivism, an offensive neoclassical realist theory named tridimensional realism is presented. According to this theory, under the present balanced multipolar structure of power the possibilities of conflict are reduced & the aloofness should evolve towards limited cooperation. However, in case a potential hegemon unbalances the multipolar structure, aloofness & limited cooperation may fall into conflict. Adapted from the source document.

The creation of the International Criminal Court (ICC) marks an important progress in international law. However, in order to become a relevant body the Court must rely on the cooperation of all its members & benefit from the help of the states that didn't subscribe to the Rome statute. In the post 9/11 context it is important to assess the impact of the new counter-terrorist agenda on the regular functioning of the Court: will it help or will it endanger the ICC professed goals? In this particular context, the United States' position is of the utmost importance. Adapted from the source document.

The aim of this article is to analyze the current dynamics of South American integration and the role played by Brazil in the region. The formation of Unasur evidences the projection of new themes and issues in regional cooperation, among which, the dimensions of security, infrastructure and financing. The projection of these issues opens up the possibility of change in historical dilemmas of cooperation and integration in South America and can offer new indications about the direction Brazilian foreign policy seeks to confer on regional integration. We intend to examine whether the sense of cooperation in South America has changed with the formation of Unasur, and to what extent it is possible to build a regional integration process that aims to strengthen national autonomy. Adapted from the source document.

The EU-Russia negotiations towards the renewal of the bilateral Cooperation & Partnership Agreement were burdened by misunderstandings on shared values & specific issues of relations with the Baltic states & Poland. In a context of raising tensions, the Portuguese Presidency chose continuity rather than change of the EU-Russia partnership. Adapted from the source document.

The generalized perception that the international system is changing due to the emergence of new great powers has been motivating analysts & policy makers to advance new proposals for institutional cooperation among democracies. This article studies two of those proposals -- John McCain's "League of Democracies" & the one of a study group of Princeton University -- and argues that they have very different origins & possible outcomes. Their differences are grounded in two competing conceptions of the United States role as global liberal actor. Adapted from the source document.

The European Council on Foreign Relations has published last July a report on the European Union's Security & Defence policies. The report has strong & weak points & it should be analyzed taking into account the present state of European Security & Defence Policy. Portugal is strongly committed to the development of ESDP. Adapted from the source document.

For some commentators, the very notion of a transatlantic crisis is too optimistic. The transatlantic relation, for them, has lost both its centrality & its specific character with the end of the Cold War. Different Western countries have both convergent & divergent values & interests with each other, as well as with the rest of the world. In particular between the United States & Europe the trend is for divergences of views, priorities, & policies to be more & more acute. This article argues that the West is indeed broken, but not beyond fixing, that the central importance of America & Europe for each other has not disappeared & may well re-emerge spectacularly in front of new challenges, but that it is unlikely to lead to the harmonious cooperation of two coherent entities. Rather, a recovered unity of the West can only be based on an awareness of intra-American & intra-European & transnational or transcontinental divisions & of common external or universal challenges. Adapted from the source document.

The article focuses on the region with the lowest level of regional integration: South Asia. Firstly, it describes the role played by the central intergovernmental organization in South Asia: the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation. Secondly, it outlines the key obstacles for integration in the region. Thirdly, it describes how the main regional actors -- SAARC, Member states, academia & civil society, & the European Union assess regional integration in South Asia. Finally, the article suggests possible scenarios for the region. Adapted from the source document.

Although its visibility was greatly enhanced by the 9/l1 attacks, the EU cooperation in the field of counterterrorism began in the 1970s. Then, as now, the rhetoric was much inflated & there was a marked gap between the politicians' rhetoric & the adoption of effective measures. The first section of this article traces the evolution of the European counter-terrorist cooperation & tries to assess the motives, as well as the limitations, behind the main initiatives. The second part examines the balance between the demands of the counter-terrorist efforts & the preservation of human rights & the rule of law. This is an issue whose relevance has become evident not only in domestic terms, but also in the field of the EU external relations. The EU policy towards the Mediterranean Arab states will help to illustrate these dilemmas. Adapted from the source document.