CAMDEN – The 50-year link between the U.S. and Europe changed forever when the Cold War ended, but policymakers here would do well to renew the relationship, one of the speakers at next month’s Camden Conference believes.

Robert Hutchings, diplomat in residence at the Woodrow Wilson School of Princeton University, said in a telephone interview the two regions must redefine their relationship in the context of current global issues such as terrorism, the rise of Muslim immigration and climate change.

The theme of the 20th annual Camden Conference, which focuses on international issues, is “Europe: Old Continent in a New World.” The Feb. 23-25 event will take a closer look at European trends in the post-Sept. 11 world.

In addition to his post at Princeton, Hutchings has served as director for European affairs with the National Security Council, chairman of the National Intelligence Council and adviser to the secretary of state with the rank of ambassador.

Relations between the U.S. and France, Germany and, to a lesser degree, Great Britain have been strained since the U.S. invaded Iraq, Hutchings said, despite the good will toward the U.S. after the Sept. 11 attacks. What comes next on the world stage, he said, will determine the tenor of future dealings with those and other European countries.

“That’s the real test of the trans-Atlantic relationship in the future,” Hutchings said.

The key issues on which the two spheres might cooperate are:

. The rise of Asia as an economic force, particularly China and India.

. Terrorism.

. The acceleration of globalization relating to trade.

. Dealing with the Muslim world.

. Global climate change.

The U.S. can learn from the manner in which European nations have addressed some of the above challenges, Hutchings said.

“They’ve had a stronger association with the Muslim world,” he said, “and we can learn from them.”

Many Middle Eastern Muslims have emigrated to Europe for work, and after arriving, form religious communities, especially in England and Germany, Hutchings said. They often become radicalized, he said, far from home and leaning on their heritage.

“I think the Europeans have been caught by surprise” by such development, he said.

In the U.S., Muslim immigrants have not been fundamentalists.

“We have more secular Muslims,” he said.

While most European countries were sympathetic to the U.S. after Sept. 11, they did not understand their place in the struggle.

“The U.S. overreacted to 9-11, but the Europeans under-reacted,” Hutchings said. Europe is closer to the countries in which anti-Western terrorism is spawned, and there are far more Muslims living in Europe than in the U.S., he said.

European nations signed the Kyoto agreement on global warming but were not keen on implementing it, Hutchings said. But the leaders of those nations have “a greater awareness” of the effects from global warming than their U.S. counterparts, he said.

And then there’s Iraq.

While the lack of support for the U.S. invasion by France, Germany and other countries chilled relations, the issue is more complex, Hutchings said.

“Almost all Europeans thought and still think invading Iraq was a mistake,” he said.

At the same time, “Europeans generally supported our toppling of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan,” Hutchings said.

Is there hope for repairing the rift with Europe over Iraq?

“In a way, it’s really too late in Iraq. Even before Iraq, there were structural changes in the trans-Atlantic relationship to cause it to hollow out,” he said, chief among them the end of the Cold War.

“I don’t think there’s any going back to pre-Iraq thinking,” he said.

The next issue on which U.S. and European leaders may find disagreement is how to deal with the rising Asian economic force, and with other global trade issues, Hutchings said.

www.camdenconference.org, or call 236-1034.