Contenu du sommaire : NATO

NATO has proved its renewed usefulness and is today fully engaged, well beyond its former frontiers, wherever its interests and those of its members are threatened.

The Alliance cannot avoid a strategic debate about its role, missions and resources. This may be painful, but it will ensure clarity and prepare the Alliance for future challenges.

There is no global mechanism that can guarantee security effectively in the face of the growing threat of political chaos, stemming from the recent political awakening of humanity. There is no global mechanism that can guarantee security effectively in the face of the growing threat of political chaos, stemming from the recent political awakening of humanity.

The ultimate direction taken by the Alliance – be it a ‘return to home base,' a ‘global expansion' or the pursuit of ‘global missions' – will be heavily influenced by perceptions of what happens in Afghanistan over the next two years.

The question of how the Alliance can best meet the common security problems of its member states should determine the revision of the Strategic Concept and analysis of the future of NATO in general.

Poland is not just concerned with the usefulness of the Alliance, but also with what can be done to make it more effective, and to maintain its relevance and good health in the decades ahead.

With 50 years' seniority over the ESDP, and despite its austere origins, NATO transformed itself during the 20th century into a political-bureaucratic machine in search of a more appropriate international role.

A new window of opportunity seems to be opening up for NATO and Russia, to re-think their relationship and how to institutionalize it through binding agreements and a permanent decision-making mechanism.

The proliferation of theaters (in Europe, the Caucasus, Central Asia, the Far East, the Middle East and the Arctic) and cross-cutting issues (proliferation, disarmament, energy, arms sales) demonstrate the overall importance of the NATO/Russia relationship.

Relations between France and NATO have been through ups and downs. France was a founding member of the Alliance, then a protestor within the system, before moving to the margins of the Alliance – and finally returning home.

France will need to show much courage and tenacity in order to wipe out, if possible, from the minds of others, and indeed from its own mind, the consequences of a profoundly questionable decision.

The changes in the way that NATO operates raise the question of whether the nuclear weapons stationed in Europe would, in a time of crisis, be an instrument of solidarity, or lead instead to divisiveness.

The lessons learned from its engagement in Afghanistan, a desire to transform itself, and its current financial problems are all factors pointing to the need to reform the Alliance. Formulating a new Strategic Concept will allow institutional reform to be associated with a new sense of purpose.

Reforming the structure does not go to the heart of the problem. A new understanding has to be reached among the allies that takes into consideration the political, economic and technical changes of the last decade.