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NATO
The Washington Declaration:
An Exercise in Irony
23 April 1999
By Stephen Young and Julie Smith
With much pomp, NATO heads of state and government today
signed "The Washington Declaration," declaring their mutual
commitment to the goals of the Alliance, "to defend our people,
our territory, and our liberty". Most ironically, NATO repeated
its faith in the United Nations and its desire "to settle
any international dispute by peaceful means." NATO is, for
the first time, using force as an Alliance, and it is acting
without a UN mandate.
The declaration includes language on how NATO must "stand
firm against those who violate human rights, wage war and
conquer territory," and also the Alliance's intention to maintain
political solidarity and military forces to "protect our nations
and meet the security challenges of the next century." This
language is intended to provide a clear justification for
action in Kosovo, seen by the Alliance as the type of security
challenge it will face in the future. It has yet to be demonstrated,
however, exactly how the current air campaign is currently
diminishing the security challenge at hand. Indeed, the current
situation on the ground in Kosovo would indicate that when
faced with NATO's "firm stance", those who "violate human
right [and] wage war" are able to continue on with renewed
ruthlessness.
Irony abounds in this document. Apparently, "Allies and Partners,
including Russia and Ukraine, are developing their
cooperation and erasing the divisions imposed by the Cold
War." Recent events suggest that the reality is somewhat different.
With scant regard for Russian concerns, NATO is waging war
in Kosovo, strengthening the case of extreme nationalists
in Moscow and almost wiping out the improvements achieved
in NATO-Russian relations over the past decade. On top of
broken promises regarding NATO expansion and the need to acquire
UN or OSCE mandates for out-of-area operations, relations
between the Russian Federation and the Alliance have rarely
been at a lower ebb. In fact, Russia, contrary to original
plans, is not even attending the summit.
Read the Washington Declaration text
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