Hi everyone,

five years ago, the 19 of March 2003, the operation Iraqi Freedom begins.
The transatlantic Community was divided regarding the need to liberate Iraq from a dictatorship accused of possessing and actively developing weapons of mass destruction.

Since that day, the international situation has evolved. After having won the military campain, the country tribal affiliation emerged and ethnic groups (Kurdish, Sunnis and Shiites) were fighting to dominate the post-war country, or to impose their view on issues of national interest. Moreover, the Coalition of the Willing had to fight against a massive surge of militants . Not all of the them, indeed, are terrorist or criminals - as stated by Sir Richard Dannatt, head of the British Armed Forces on the 21 of September 2007 at the IISS, London. The militants were both fighting a civil war and against the presence of US lead coalition troops on the ground.
The level of fighting in the Iraqi civil society, as well as against national and foreign military troops is now progressively decrising. The political dialogue between most of the actors participating of the country security (neighbouring countries, European and North American countries, Regional powers, militant groups) has made some improvement in the situation possible.
The country remain one of the most ustable country in the world, namely the second, after Sudan according to Foreign Policy Magazine.
I would like to focus my comment and having feeback on what we can to help Iraqi help themselves to create a more stable and secure environment for ther country and for the entire world.
Being young persons involved in international politics I think that our most realistic contributions so far might be:
- monitoring the information flow that communication medias send out everyday to its viewers and that influence our perception of what is going right and what's not. The basis for every serious consideration over an international crisis is to experience the country by being there. If that is not possible it is necessary to double check the sources of information and to try to assess issues from a different perspective, which might be more realistic, eventually;
- create a serious and motivated debate on the future options available, on how to provide stability to the country and security to its citizens;
- engage in a dialogue with Iraqi and listen to their opinions, as they will be the final consumer of the security we help to provide.

Do you think there are other major things that we can do, right now to help Iraqis? Do you think that these consideration are valid also for other countries, such as Afghanistan, for example?

Hi everyone,

Welcome to the yata-network blogspot!

YATA Board will use this blog to share information and ideas on the future of translatlantic relations and on issues we are most interested in!

I am sure you are goint to find this blog interesting and useful for strengthening our network and the whole transatlantic community.

Enjoy

The YATA Board

YATA's Mission

The Youth Atlantic Treaty Association (YATA) has since its foundation at the Atlantic Treaty Association's General Assembly in Rome in 1996, risen to become an international youth organization of a considerable size. Today YATA expands from North America in the West to Russia and the Caucasus in the East, making up a total of 38 national chapters. YATA members have organized several national and international events, related to international security and transatlantic cooperation. YATA network has cooperated with many other youth national and transnatioanl organization with which it share common values and ideas. In 2007 the YATA International Board focused its activities on further strengthening the network and in creating new ties bewtween the chapters, in order to create an international environment where students, young professionals and researchers can share their ideas and create a genuine transatlantic community. In 2008, YATA will continue to grow and will keep up the good work done so far by organizing out-of-the-box events and producing innovative ideas and projects that best represent the values we share. The new YATA board will strive towards stronger cooperation among countries of the Mediterranean region and the Wider Black Sea area. Strengthening YATA chapters in Western Europe will also be a high priority in 2008. We will continue to promote more dialogue and exchange of ideas through innovative projects in order to reach young people within the Transatlantic community and beyond. We look forward to working together with all of you, and creating an even stronger YATA in 2008.