Book excerpt: This volume serves as a prism through which the European Union's external relations and security can be assessed. Experts tackle strategic issues such as Russia's relationship with the West, the rise of China (with special reference to arms supplies), Iran"s nuclear program, and European homeland security against the background of global terrorism. On these issues and others, transatlantic relations continue to be more relevant than ever, with the United States and the EU intertwined in the world's tightest network of economic and societal relations. As the enlarging EU stretches to cover an expanding area of competence, its responses to these challenges affect not only its internal security but increasingly that of its neighbors and other powerful actors on the world stage.