On April 17, 2003, European Union leaders issued a joint statement calling for a “central role” for the United Nations in
the future of Iraq. How great a role the United States will ask the UN to play in the reconstruction of Iraq, however,
remains unclear at present. Much attention is focused therefore on the division of opinion between the United States on
the one hand and the Europeans, including Great Britain, on the other, not to mention the concerns of Arab nations.