A Transatlantic Compact for the 21st Century
Daniel Hamilton et al. | Atlantic Council of the United States | February 2009
This April NATO will celebrate its 60th anniversary at its summits in Strasbourg, Baden-Baden and Kiel.
The Alliance
should use this opportunity to declare its future strategy. This could be the
first step towards a new transatlantic compact. However, this requires NATO to
clearly define its role for collective security for the 21st century. Doing so will allow the transatlantic partnership to determine the
fundamental principles for future cooperation. A new study by the Atlantic
Council (and the Center for Strategy and International Studies) formulates the
crux upon which the search for a long-term strategy among the NATO partners
should hinge.
The
two critical current challenges are the engagement in Afghanistan and relations with Russia. Afghanistan
has long been a test for the Alliance,
putting its credibility on the line. The deployment therefore needs the support
of all members who claim to advocate a desire for stability in the region. This
is especially essential for Pakistan
and the Afghan-Pakistani border region. Recently the Alliance
has had recurrent troubles in its relations with Russia. Members must therefore
adopt a two-pronged strategy that should be supported by all. On the one hand,
the advantages of a productive relationship between the West and Russia
must be brought to the center of the debate. On the other hand, it is essential
that this relationship is not based on intimidation and outdated concepts of
military influence, but rather solely on international law, the UN Charter, and
the Helsinki
principles.
Furthermore,
it is important that NATO strike a better balance between missions at home and abroad.
At home it is essential to guarantee the defense capabilities of all members of
the Alliance.
This requires especially new members to properly invest in military and
technological infrastructure. Additionally, the door to membership should
remain open for other countries on the European continent. It is the duty of
NATO governments to honor the commitment made to Ukraine
and Georgia
at the Bucharest Summit and earnestly consider their candidacy for membership.
Abroad, NATO must urgently improve its deployment capabilities for crisis
prevention and stability operations, as well as cooperation with other
international organizations. The Alliance
needs to create a bigger pool of deployable forces in order to strengthen the
capabilities of the NATO Response Force. Moreover, consideration should be given
to the creation of a NATO Stabilization and Reconstruction Force, in order to
be better equipped for stabilization operations. Finally, NATO should establish
substantial strategy partnerships with the European Union, the UN, the OSCE and
the African Union. It might prove useful to appoint an Assistant Secretary
General who could coordinate these international partnerships.
This summary was prepared by the Atlantic Community editorial team from "Alliance Reborn: An Atlantic Compact for the 21st Century," published here by the Atlantic Council, February 2009.
