EUROPE - Professor Christopher Layne concludes that ESDP (the European Security and Defense Policy), was instead “envisioned as the backbone of an independent European security policy, one developed by Europeans without US input.” If that was not enough to unsettle US leaders, Layne notes, at their November 2000 meeting, the European Union’s defense ministers “gave ESDP concrete expression by announcing plans to create a sixty-thousand strong Rapid Reaction Force (RRF).” The ESDP and RRF plans triggered a pronounced disagreement between the United States and the EU about how far the “Europeanization” of the Continent’s defense could or should go. Creating a capable European security organization to handle purely European contingencies makes sense. Developing such a capability also would transform Europe into a true ally instead of a glorified US protectorate, which could prove crucial if it becomes necessary to confront a menace to the entire transatlantic community.