Moravcsik said the report struck a desirable balance between blaming structure and policy for the current state of trans-Atlantic relations.

“My concern was that the report be balanced between two broad views,” he said. “One stresses deep and inevitable causes for current transatlantic tensions, a position generally (but not always) favored by conservatives on the task force, and the other emphasizes specific policies and decisions adopted by U.S. administrations, particularly the current one, a position generally (but not always) favored by liberals and Europeans on the task force.”

Members were given the option to endorse the report, endorse with additional comment or not endorse the report, according to Kupchan.

Kennedy School of Government Academic Dean and Belfer Professor of International Affairs Stephen M. Walt chose to endorse the report with additional comment, while all other committee members chose simply to endorse the report.

Walt highlighted three points in his “additional view.” He said the report failed to emphasize sufficiently the structural issues facing the Atlantic allies, did not put forth a more concrete proposal to address the Middle Eastern conflict and repeated the “unsupported” assertion of links between al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein.

But Walt said that he generally supported the report’s conclusions. He added that he was surprised that no one else opted to include comments.

“It’s clear I’m not dissenting from the content of the report,” he said. “I wanted to make three amplifying points, to either clarify or comment on specific items or omissions in the report, but it was not a principled dissent.”

Summers said he was pleased with the final outcome, adding that it is a “consensus” report, although he said task force members probably differed on some of the smaller details.

“Each of us if we had been writing it ourselves would have done something different,” he said.

Kissinger could not be reached for comment over the weekend.

—Staff writer Stephen M. Marks can be reached at marks@fas.harvard.edu.