With the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the bipolar world, the nature of the Euroatlantic relationship has changed dramatically. If for over 40 years its main purpose had been relatively straightforward, namely to protect Europe from a well-defined adversary (the Soviet Union), today Europe and the United States are faced with a rapidly changing world necessitating new ways in which they will cooperate.

Put at its simplest, Euroatlantic integration refers to the inclusion of countries in NATO and the EU.