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NATO
US Government Calls US Leadership
'Key' to NATO's Future
Note: This document, obtained from the US
National Security Council, discusses objectives and goals
for the US government at the upcoming NATO Summit. Paragraph
formatting, such as bolding of words, is retained from the
original document.
NATO 50TH ANNIVERSARY SUMMIT
Overview
The 50th anniversary of the founding of the NATO
Alliance will be commemorated in a special summit hosted by
President Clinton on April 23-25 in Washington. This summit
will recall the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty on April
4, 1949, and will take place in the Mellon Auditorium, the
original site of the 1949 signing.
In the course of the three-day proceedings, the summit
will bring together 44 heads of state and government from
across Europe and North America. It will be the largest gathering
of world leaders ever hosted in the nation's capital.
One of the summit's major accomplishments will be the entry
of Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic as the newest
members of the Alliance. Their entry will be highlighted
in the opening ceremony of the summit on the afternoon of
Friday, April 23. This ceremony will be accessible to the
media and general public, and will include celebrations along
Constitution Avenue.
Consistent with NATO practice, the substantive meetings of
the summit will take place first among the 19 NATO members
on Saturday, April 24. On Sunday, April 25, NATO's 25 partner
states will join the substantive meetings for a collective
session of the 44-member Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council.
The summit will conclude on Sunday afternoon with a closing
press conference.
In addition to celebrating NATO's successful past, this summit
will prepare the Alliance for the future. We hope to
accomplish these objectives through a revised and updated
Strategic Concept, which is NATO's principal blueprint
for defense planners. Together with our European allies, the
United States is developing a comprehensive package of initiatives
to ensure that NATO can effectively respond to the new challenges
it will face in coming years, including regional conflict
and the threats posed by the proliferation of weapons of mass
destruction.
The summit will also launch programs to deepen our practical
cooperation with all partner states, including Russia
and Ukraine, and will reaffirm NATO's openness to new members
by offering practical assistance to states that aspire to
future membership.
The lesson of NATO's past -- and the key to its future
-- is continued American leadership. This summit will
reaffirm that central principle and culminate this Administration's
unflagging efforts to build a Europe that is integrated, democratic,
and at peace for the first time in history.
NATO 50TH ANNIVERSARY SUMMIT
Themes
NATO's 50th Anniversary Summit in Washington,
D.C., April 23-25 is an opportunity to commemorate, celebrate
and communicate a new vision for the most successful alliance
in history - an alliance that safeguarded freedom throughout
the Cold War and stands ready to meet the new security challenges
of a new century.
Highlighting American Leadership for Security and Freedom.
In this century, America has often made the difference between
war and peace, tyranny and freedom. Nowhere is that more true
than in Europe, where Americans fought two world wars and
then had the vision to create NATO and the other institutions
that were the bulwarks of our security and prosperity for
fifty years. But crucial challenges remain. Indeed, in the
next century, American engagement for peace and security will
be more vital than ever - within NATO, in Europe and beyond.
At the Summit, we will remind people here at home, in Europe
and around the world that they can continue to count on America.
Tomorrow as yesterday, we will defend our values, protect
our interests and stand by our friends.
Celebrating the Strength of Democracy. The dream of
the generation that founded NATO was of a Europe undivided,
democratic and at peace. NATO helped realize that vision for
half a continent - keeping the peace, defending democracy
from aggression, creating the conditions in which prosperity
could flourish in the United States and Western Europe. Then,
NATO's strength, the force of democracy and the determination
of people to live free extended the dream to all of Europe,
including the three nations now joining that alliance - Hungary,
Poland and the Czech Republic - and NATO's new partners, including
Russia and Ukraine. At the Summit, we will celebrate the success
of NATO's first fifty years in defending democracy in Europe's
west and helping to make it a reality for people in Europe's
east. We will also reaffirm NATO's commitment to keep an open
door to other Eastern democracies that demonstrate their ability
to meet the obligations of NATO membership.
Meeting the Challenges of the 21st
Century. For the past fifty years, the United States
and its allies confronted a common enemy: communism. For the
next fifty years, the challenges we face will be much more
diverse, but no less dangerous: ethnic, racial and religious
hatreds, like those in Bosnia and Kosovo, that risk spiraling
out of control; the spread of weapons of mass destruction;
a new nexus of international terrorism, crime and drug trafficking.
To help meet these new threats, the United States has taken
the lead in giving NATO new capabilities and adapting the
Alliance to new missions. At the Summit, the Allies will carry
forward their work to prepare NATO for the 21st
century.
Building a Peaceful, Undivided and Democratic Europe.
For the first time in modem history, Europe is uniting around
the values and institutions we share - peace and stability,
democracy and human rights, free markets and free trade. NATO
has helped make this possible, serving as the bedrock of Europe's
security integration, and the linchpin of its security partnership
with the United States. For nearly half a century, NATO defended
against aggression and provided a source of stability. Now,
a new NATO in a new era can extend those benefits to the entire
continent, strengthening our partnerships with Europe's new
market democracies and helping to build a more integrated
Europe. NATO is also working intensively to strengthen mutually
beneficial cooperation with Russia and Ukraine who are key
pillars of the new Europe.
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