EU - NATO Relations: challenges & Opportunities

The Europe Union (EU) and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) share 21 members، so evaluating the challenges and opportunities in the field of international politics is very important. European Union is a civilian power with economic and social capabilities، and soft security، and its military capabilities in the form of «European Security and Defense Policy» is less important. But NATO in the first look is known as a military and security alliance which is broadly beneath the United States. EU has developed its capabilities and activities in the field of «Common Foreign and Security Policy» (CFSP) and especially «European Security and Defense Policy (ESDP)» since the 1990s. Europe Union intends to make cooperation between «European rapid deployment force» and «NATO Rapid Reaction Force» to achieve the required competency and capabilities. Our findings suggest that «European Common defense policy» must define as complementary and not in conflict with NATO. The author attempts to explain the challenges and opportunities exist in the relations between Europe Union and NATO، and evaluating its impacts on Iran''s national interests in the region and the world. The method of this paper is library collection and it is developed in a «descriptive- analytical manner. Furthermore،the variety of sources، such as related books، databases and papers، have been used.