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NATO
No Leadership in NATO's Confused Concept
Minor Changes, Recognition of Alliance
Limits
24 April 1999
"If this were a college term paper, it would
get 'five out of ten - must do better,'" said Martin Butcher,
senior Visiting Fellow at BASIC.
By recognizing the primacy of the UN and limits
to its geographical reach, NATO's new Strategic Concept shows
that the Allies have begun to learn the lessons of the mishandling
of the Kosovo crisis and reasserted the Alliance's traditional
relationship to the UN enshrined in the NATO Treaty.
At the same time, the Alliance is continuing
its military attacks against Milosevic and his military apparatus.
On the other hand, despite NATO's claim to defend freedom,
the Alliance was noticeably silent on NATO member Turkey's
ongoing military action and forced resettlement of Kurds in
SE Turkey. NATO has also initiated a program of military support
for the authoritarian regime in Croatia, which has previously
been refused assistance because of its undemocratic nature.
NATO began the process of updating the Concept,
last revised in 1991, at its 1997 Summit in Madrid. The 1991
version was badly outdated. For example, it still included
references to the Soviet Union. Last fall, Germany led a public
debate on NATO's nuclear policy in the Concept. German Foreign
Minister Joschka Fischer promoted the idea that NATO adopt
a no first use policy for nuclear weapons. The United States
adamantly opposed such a change, and attempted to prevent
even debate on the issue. However, other countries, particularly
Canada, soon joined Germany in calling for a debate on NATO's
nuclear policies.
In its final version, over strong US opposition,
the Concept's description of the circumstances in which NATO
would use nuclear weapons was slightly changed. It now says
that the circumstances in which NATO might have to consider
using nuclear weapons are "extremely remote." Yet nuclear
weapons are still considered the "supreme guarantee" of Alliance
security, and are still fulfill an "essential role".
Because these changes were so modest, Germany
demanded and got agreement to a study on nuclear policy. This
study will also include the development by NATO of a new process
for arms control, disarmament and non-proliferation, to replace
the concept dating from 1989. Proposals for this study will
be laid out in December.
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