The Right Honorable Jack Straw, British Foreign Secretary

The enduring relationship between Europe and the United States has been underscored in recent months by the cooperation between European countries and the Bush administration in the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks. However, substantive divisions have re-emerged on important issues of trade and foreign policy.

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw will address these and other issues in a May 8 speech at the Brookings Institution, and will take questions from the audience. He will discuss a series of misunderstandings about the nature of the modern transatlantic relationship; explore ways in which the relationship can evolve in light of new threats; and set out the premises on which he believes transatlantic foreign and security policies in a changing world should be based.

Jack Straw was appointed Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs in June 2001. He has been a Member of Parliament since 1979. From 1997-2001, Straw was Home Secretary, and before that he held several positions, including Shadow Home Secretary, Shadow Environment Secretary, and Shadow Education Secretary.

The Brookings Leadership Forum provides high-level government officials from around the world the opportunity to address members of the Washington policy community and to share their insights and perspectives on world events as well as on issues of particular concern to their countries.