Insight
NATO: Brain dead, or just resting? by Ian Bond 2 December 2019
NATO leaders will meet in London on December 3rd and 4th against a background of internal disagreements. But reports of the alliance’s death are exaggerated. A lot of water has flowed down the Rhine since NATO celebrated its 60th anniversary in April 2009 with a two-day summit, symbolically shared between the cities of Strasbourg in France and Kehl, on the opposite bank of the river in Germany. Ten years on, as NATO leaders prepare to meet in London on December 3rd–4th, the alliance feels a lot more fragile and less confident of its future. But NATO’s members still have no better framework in which to work together in the interests of their own security. If leaders want to do something useful in London, they should be honest about their problems, and focus on increasing NATO’s role as a place for allies to talk frankly about their security concerns. In 2009, Barack Obama was on his first official visit to Europe as president, and was immensely popular with Europeans. France announced its full reintegration into NATO’s military command structure, reversing President Charles de Gaulle’s 1966 decision to leave it. Albania and Croatia officially joined the alliance. NATO leaders issued a 62-paragraph declaration, including everything from tasking officials to draft a new NATO Strategic Concept to offering to enhance dialogue with the African Union. The alliance faced challenges – above all in its operations in Afghanistan – but overall the 60th anniversary summit was the occasion for a show of confidence. This year, limiting the opportunities for US President Donald Trump to criticise his allies or call into question NATO’s existence has become an important objective in planning NATO events. The London meeting was initially described by the Secretary General in May as a summit and a chance to “address current and emerging security challenges and how NATO continues to invest and adapt to ensure it will remain a pillar of stability in the years ahead”. It has become something much more modest, a ‘leaders’ meeting’ consisting of a single working session at which each country’s president or prime minister will have three or four minutes (at least in theory) to say what is on their mind. Leaders will also issue a short statement (which everyone involved hopes will be agreed in advance, to avoid presidents and prime ministers arguing over the text), and approve various documents, including NATO’s first military strategy since the 1960s. CER INSIGHT: NATO: Brain dead, or just resting? 2 December 2019
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