NATO Strategic Partnerships in a Global World

Final Report of the Working Group

Rome, Center for High Defense Studies

27th September 2006

 

In the fifteen years to come, the Atlantic Community will face formidable strategic challenges, both current and emerging.  These include: regional and domestic political instability across areas of the Middle East, Africa, and Asia; proliferation of WMD; global terrorism and asymmetric threats; energy security.  In addition, new issues are likely to surface: the rise of new global powers like China and India, as well as migration and the competition for scarce resources.
 
To meet these challenges, NATO and the Atlantic Community must exert cooperative leadership, follow a coherent strategic direction, and streamline the Alliance's operations. A crucial element in this endeavour should be revamping NATO's partnerships. Recent history has shown that partners play a crucial role in addressing these challenges. More effective management of these partnerships is necessary for accomplishing the missions ahead. Therefore, NATO should streamline and expand its partnerships while paying tailored attention to membership-aspirant, non-membership-aspirant, and new prospective partners.
 
NATO's principal objectives for partnerships should remain:

• To enlist non-NATO, like-minded countries who share mutual interests and values with the Alliance and are willing to concretely support and participate in NATO missions and operations;
   
• To advance stability in NATO's neighborhood by activities aimed to reduce tensions and misconceptions, and promoting mutual confidence and understanding.
  

Membership-Aspirant Partners

NATO should maintain its open door policy. Given that the security and stability of the entire Euro-Atlantic space is directly tied to its Balkan and Black Sea regions, enlargement of the Alliance to these areas should remain a top priority on NATO's agenda.
Currently, three Balkan countries, Albania, Croatia, and the FYR of Macedonia, are in the process of completing Membership Action Plans, and two Black Sea countries, Georgia and Ukraine, are conducting Intensified Dialogue on membership with the Alliance.
NATO should continue to maintain an individual approach towards each aspiring country.  The aspirant's interest, commitment, and performance should be the driving forces of the integration process and determine its progress. It is imperative that the Alliance eschew the influence of non-NATO member countries regarding the next stages of integration and membership.

Non-Aspirant Partners

Most NATO partners at this stage do not aspire to join the Alliance; however these partners provide essential value to NATO missions. Therefore, NATO partnerships should be designed on a case-by case, functional, flexible, and tailored basis, so as to best serve both NATO's goals and missions and the partners' interests and capabilities.

New Prospective Partners

NATO's needs and challenges of the 21st century have increased.  Reality mandates the expansion of NATO's partnerships to countries beyond its neighborhood.

 
Prospective partnerships should include the following spheres of activity:

• Intelligence sharing;
• Common military training activities;
• Staff exchange;
• Building new and improving existing interoperability;
• Establishing a systematic dialogue;
• Managing immediate crises by installing an early warning system.
  

New Institutional Framework: NATO Partnership Council

As member-aspirant countries accede to NATO, and new global partners sign-up, the existing partnership structures should be streamlined and dealt with effectively. By renewing the strategic concept, NATO should establish both functional and institutional bases for future common involvement at all levels with current and new partners. By consensus agreement on the shared values and interests of the Alliance, a new legal framework is necessary to further develop these new partnerships.
 


To that end, the NATO should form a new NATO Partnership Council (NPC) to include all NATO partners – global, ICI, PfP, and Mediterranean Dialogue countries.
The NPC would become the main forum of dialogue among allies and partners and could also consist of regional caucuses and framework, such as a Mediterranean grouping.
Predicated on flexibility and transparency, the NPC, would open programs to all partners, allowing partners to determine the pace and depth of their cooperation in line with the Alliance's interests. This should reinforce NATO's country-specific attention to partner countries and should not be interpreted in any way as "one size fits all".
 
To respond to NATO partners' concerns and alleviate possible misconceptions regarding NATO's intentions and missions, far more resources should be allocated towards public diplomacy efforts in partner countries.

 

 
 
 

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