(Based on results of the report of the Group of Experts “NATO-2020: assured security and dynamic engagement”, presented June 17, 2010 in NATO headquarters)
I. Strategic concept for NATO – is an official document which formulates the objective and nature of the Alliance’s activities, fundamental problems in the field of security, main features of the security environment, approaches to its implementation, adaptation vectors of political and military capabilities of NATO.
At this time Strategic concept of 1999 is valid which defines the guidelines for military forces of the Alliance, contains recommendations for further development of military forces and capabilities needed to execute a full range of missions (operations) of the Alliance: from collective defense to peacekeeping and operations dealing with crisis management.
Memo. During the existence of NATO there have been five Strategic concepts approved for the Alliance:
1950 - The Strategic Concept for Defense of the North Atlantic Area;
1952 - The Strategic Concept for the Defense of the North Atlantic Area;
1957 - Overall Strategic Concept for the Defense of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization Area;
1968 - Overall Strategic Concept for the Defense of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization Area;
1991 - Strategic concept for 1991.
II. The decision to develop a new Strategic concept for NATO
At the summit in Strasbourg and Kiel (03-04.04.09) in order to provide further adaptation of the Alliance, heads of state and government of member-states of NATO adopted declaration on the Alliance security. This declaration contains the requirement to take into account radical security changes occurred.
The new strategic concept in envisaged to formulate clear directions of the Alliance transformation, its defense structures and capabilities which will allow NATO to counter effectively threats and challenge of 21st century and play the role of guarantor of regional and international security.
III. Main factors for the development of a new Strategic concept:
The loss of actuality by a current Strategic concept for 1999 which does not take into account significant events and changes in international environment;
A necessity to develop a new conceptual approach with a clear strategic vision, clear definition of priorities and resources;
A necessity to consider new threats (threats in the energy sector, piracy, cyber crime, fighting for access to natural resources)
The global reach of the Alliance with access beyond the traditional Euro-Atlantic area of responsibility;
Development of the EU military component;
Expanding cooperation of NATO with nations all over the world (Japan, Australia, South Korea);
Reduce in the effectiveness of NATO command structures in current conditions.
Main attention during the development of new Strategic concept was focused on these issues:
General security facing current threats;
Partnership with international and nongovernmental organizations;
Cooperation of NATO with EU;
Stable security environment;
Global partnership;
Improvement of the decision-making procedure and activities of NATO;
NATO expansion.
IV. The Group of Experts
Members of the Group of Experts working on a new Strategic concept for NATO (12):
Chair: Madeleine K. Albright (United States) – former Secretary of State of USA.
Vice-chair: Jeroen van der Veer (The Netherlands) – CEO of Shell.
Group members:
Ambassador Giancarlo Aragona (Italy)
Ambassador Marie Gervais-Vidricaire (Canada)
Mr. Geoff Hoon (United Kingdom) (until 24 March 2010)
Ambassador Ümit Pamir (Turkey)
Ambassador Fernando Perpiñá-Robert Peyra (Spain)
Ambassador Dr Hans-Friedrich von Ploetz (Germany)
Mr. Bruno Racine (France)
Professor Adam Daniel Rotfeld (Poland)
Ambassador Aivis Ronis (Latvia) (until 5 May 2010)
Ambassador Yannis-Alexis Zepos (Greece)
V. Readiness of a new Strategic Concept for NATO
The text of a new Strategic concept will be presented by the NATO Secretary General at the NATO Summit in Lisbon (Portugal) 19 - 20 November 2010.
VI. Main structural components of the new Strategic Concept for NATO
Section 1. Reaffirming NATO’s Core Commitment
Collective defense – Alliance’s core commitment - embodied in Article 5 of the Washington Treaty - is unchanged, but it should be filled with more specific content. NATO member states have to be prepared not only for armed aggression but also to other joint actions in order to reduce a number of potential adversaries.
Protecting against unconventional threats – protecting you against conventional threats, the Alliance has to stay vigilant to new unconventional threats such as the use of weapons of mass destruction, terrorist strikes, cyber assaults or struggle for access to natural resources.
Establishing guidelines for operations outside NATO borders – according to new Strategic Concept should prescribe guidelines for NATO as it makes decisions about when and where to apply its resources outside Alliance borders.
Creating the conditions for success in Afghanistan – this operation is the largest ever attempted by the Alliance. Its main objective is to create in Afghanistan stable environment which will not allow this country to be a platform for international terrorism in the future. The experience in Afghanistan is a rich source of lessons to be learned for a new Strategic Concept for NATO.
Consultations to prevent or manage crises – given the changing character and growing variety of dangers to the security of member states, the Alliance should make more creative and regular use of the consultations. The implementation of the Article 4 of the Washington Treaty will allow exchanging information, developing joint solutions to prevent crises situations and should they arise to successfully eliminate them.
Section 2. A new era of partnership.
The new Strategic Concept must recognize that on its way to 2020 the Alliance will not operate alone. Partnership in all its diversity will occupy a central place in the daily work of the Alliance. For a successful implementation of the objectives of the Alliance it is important to consolidate and deepen relationships with key partners and start new relationships, where necessary, extend the range of activities for cooperation.
Implementation of a comprehensive approach to complex problems – partnership with NATO to pursue solutions requires a comprehensive approach, using both military and civilian means. Depending on the situation, the Alliance will play a role of an organizer, or provide specialized assistance or serve a different function in solving a wide range of tasks, such as economic reconstruction, political reconciliation, improved governance and strengthening of civil society.
Engaging with Russia were defined by the Alliance as one of the main factors which improve the state of security in the Euro-Atlantic region. Working in the framework of the Russia - NATO Council will demonstrate its commitment (and expect the same from Russia), grounding their cooperation on pragmatic cooperation in these common interests as nuclear non-proliferation, arms control, counter-terrorism, missile defence, effective crisis management, peace operations, maritime security, and the fight against trafficking in illegal drugs.
Open door policy – since the end of the Cold War the Alliance expanded the number of member states from 6 to 28. According to the provisions of Article 10 of the Washington Treaty the expansion process of the Alliance will continue.
New capabilities for a new era (military transformation and reform) – military and political commitments of the Alliance are worthless without capabilities. This is why Strategic Concept has to include a clear definition of defense priorities and be accompanied by an agreed set of capabilities (essentially new or improved) and reforms. NATO forces must be able to protect NATO territory, execute missions far beyond it, to increase the contribution to international security and quickly respond to unforeseen crises situations where it is necessary. This is why NATO forces must be reformed from the times of the Cold War into mobile, flexible and multipurpose forces which would under resource constraints function most effectively.
Nuclear weapons policy: solidarity in pursuit of peace – Strategic Concept should affirm Alliance’s position in nuclear non-proliferation and its safe containment in order to liberate the world from fear of a nuclear war. Such NATO’s activity continues to reduce strategic nuclear forces in Europe and hopes to cooperate with Russia in order to increase transparency in the process of further reduction of nuclear potentials.
The new mission of missile defence - defending against the threat of a possible ballistic missile attack from Iran the Alliance renews this important military objective. For this purpose phased adaptive missile defence systems have been deployed. The Alliance counts on cooperation throughout the member states and between its partners (especially Russia).
Responding to the rising danger of cyber attacks – the Alliance must accelerate efforts to respond adequately to the danger of cyber-attacks for the defence of its communications and command systems, to improve their ability to prevent and recover from attacks, and to improve its capabilities aimed at effective detection and deterrence.
Implementing reforms to create a more efficient Alliance – the Strategic Concept will provide the NATO Secretary General with the necessary authority to implement administrative and other reforms that will help to make the Alliance more effective and productive and will contribute to a more rapid decision making.
Popularization of the Alliance - as the Alliance is preparing a new Strategic Concept, its developers should bare in mind that this document will be read not only by the Euro Atlantic society but all over the world. The population of member-states of NATO needs to be reminded that the Alliance serves their interests, precisely – security. People that live outside NATO have to know that NATO and its partners are working every day on making this world a safer place.
Conclusions
Conventional military aggression against the Alliance and its members is unlikely, but its likelihood can not be ignored. The most likely threats to the Alliance in the near future are related to unconventional (asymmetric) threats, namely:
Aggression using ballistic missiles (possibly with nuclear equipment);
Terrorist attacks of international terrorist groups;
Different forms cyber-attacks.
VII. Cooperation
Partnership in the framework of the “Partnership for peace” program and Council of Euro Atlantic partnership – the Alliance has to deepen permanent consultations and crisis response consultations with the partners of Council of Euro Atlantic partnership as it is stated in provisions of Article 8 of the Framework Agreement on Partnership for Peace.
Partnership with the EU – new Strategic Concept of the Alliance has to consider that Lisbon’s Treaty of the EU was developed to strengthen European military capabilities and command structures. NATO has to welcome this achievement and to confirm in the Strategic Concept that full cooperation with the European Union is clearly effective and it is based on the principle of reciprocity and contains a wide range of cooperation possibilities.
Together with the European Union, NATO leaders should avoid defining threats as "exceptionally military" or "non-military."
It is imperative that NATO authorities and the European Union took all the measures necessary to prevent misunderstandings in the cooperation between them.
Partnership with the UN – in the world of global threats security depends on common law principles. One of the objectives of the Alliance will be to enable UN fulfill its obligations.
During joint operations the Alliance provided the security of civil personnel of the UN. The success of activities of these organizations directly depends on clear coordination - neither party can operate successfully without a clear joint cooperation.
Coordination between the UN and NATO will avoid such events as genocide, massive violations of human rights and others.
Partnership with the OSCE - NATO should make full use of the OSCE’s training resources and expert advice. Also it is necessary to implement the experience of cooperation building and implementation of democratic values in Alliance’s activities.
Partnership with Russia – the new Strategic Concept has to facilitate the development of relations with Russia based on cooperation, shared responsibility, finding common interests and avoiding artificial confrontation. Effectiveness of the partnership is measured by practical rather than political results. If willingness to compromise of one party is perceived by another as a sign of weakness, it will only provoke further aggression. Therefore, NATO should have a wide range of tools for constructive re-engagement with Russia and protection of its interests. It is in the interest of NATO to promote mutual trust in relations of the Alliance and partners with Russia through the coordination of common approaches to prevent the emergence of "gray zones" of security.
Partnership with Ukraine and Georgia – the Alliance should make the work with Ukraine and Georgia regular in the framework of Military committees for discussion of the security principles and prospects for further cooperation, including defence reform. A clear and balanced position of the Alliance concerning these countries will help to prevent misunderstandings and create an atmosphere of trust. Also NATO should establish a mechanism to respond to crisis situations to assess and monitor the development of these countries.
NATO’s Partnerships in the Mediterranean and Middle East – the Alliance has to bring the level of cooperation with countries in these regions to strategic. Alliance should be open for consultations in the context of a possible nuclear attack from Iran. NATO must be prepared to support a peaceful settlement of conflict between Israel and Palestine.
Global partnership – NATO must be prepared to deepen cooperation with countries which are situated beyond the borders of the Alliance and to increase the list of activities of such cooperation, to assist each participant in the possibility of individual cooperation with the Alliance. Relations with regional organizations such as the African Union, Organization of American States, Shanghai Cooperation Organization or the Collective Security Treaty Organization should be based on principles of equality, mutual trust and mutual benefit.
VIII. Military transformation
The new Strategic Concept has to include the vector of further transformation of NATO’s defence capabilities. Existing in the new security environment and with limited resources, the Alliance must be flexible, mobile, stable and fully equipped military forces that would be able to perform the full range of obligations undertaken by the Alliance. These obligations include the deterrence of aggression, protecting Alliance’s territory, ability to execute tasks far beyond its borders, as well as readiness to execute a wide variety of tasks with smaller forces. The new Strategic Concept should include updated recommendations and be accompanied by agreed priorities and military reforms.
Military missions of the Alliance
In the near future the Alliance will have four correlated key military objectives:
1. Deterrence, prevention and protection against any threat of aggression in order to guarantee political independence and territorial integrity of every member of NATO in accordance with Article 5 of the Washington Treaty.
2. Secure NATO’s territory against any unconventional threats by means of cooperation with partners and civil institutions.
3. Develop and maintain expeditionary capabilities to conduct military operations outside the Alliance, in case of the need to prevent the attack or to protect the rights and freedoms of all NATO members.
4. Support a more stable and peaceful international environment by deepening involvement of the member states through military and political training, coordination of military assistance and cooperation with governments of key countries.
A. Petrenko
Colonel, Chief of Euro-Atlantic Integration Directorate, General Staff, Ukrainian Armed Forces
