TheWeekAhead

BRUSSELS: NATO ambassadors will gather in Brussels today for what promises to be a difficult meeting of the Atlantic Alliance…

BRUSSELS: NATO ambassadors will gather in Brussels today for what promises to be a difficult meeting of the Atlantic Alliance.

Some European Union member-states - notably France, Germany, Belgium and Britain (perhaps), who are also members of NATO - want to establish a specifically EU-centred military planning HQ for emerging European military forces.

The US views the suggestion with deep suspicion bordering on serious antagonism. The Americans regard NATO - where decisions are reached by consensus, despite US dominance in defence spending and military capabilities - as the tried and tested bulwark for both European defence and trans-Atlantic military co-operation. The British tend to agree.

An emerging, European military entity independent of NATO is precisely what some European leaders think is necessary to counterbalance a perceived US global dominance. A separate military HQ is needless (and dangerous) duplication, counter the Americans. The EU should use NATO, they say.

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At their Brussels summit last week, EU leaders agreed that any further developments down this road must be subject to all-EU political approval. The US will want to hear more about this today and will not be slow to argue their case for NATO and only NATO.

The 11th annual conference of APEC - Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation - starts today in Bangkok, Thailand. It will be attended by, among others, US President George Bush, who will have a busy week in Asia.

Tomorrow, he goes to Singapore; Wednesday sees him in Jakarta, capital of Indonesia, and also Bali, scene of the terrorist outrage a year ago that killed more than 200 people. Mr Bush is certain to use the visit to make common cause with President Megawati in the war on terrorism.

Later on Wednesday, President Bush begins a 36-hour visit to Australia, where he is assured a warm reception from Prime Minister John Howard, one of his allies on Iraq. Anti-war protesters will send a different message, however.

Also on Wednesday, the US Secretary of State, Mr Colin Powell, will visit Greece, where anti-American sentiment runs high and protesters traditionally express their feelings with considerable force on the streets of Athens.

In Madrid on Thursday, there is a meeting of potential donors to raise funds for the rebuilding of Iraq.

The United States will be hoping that last week's unanimous UN resolution putting the US occupation on a legal footing and indicating a timetable for handing sovereignty back fully to Iraqis will encourage other countries to chip in.

However, France and Germany have already said they will give neither money nor troops, and Britain is already heavily involved on the ground. The conference continues into Friday.

And on Friday in Italy, the country's three largest trades unions are due to stage a general strike over proposed reforms to the pension system.