U.S. Policy and NATO Transformation
Abstract
The United States National Security and Military Strategies both emphasize the importance of alliances and coalitions to the success of our overall security strategy. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is well into a major transformation process and the U.S.A. plays a major leadership role in the success or failure of this transformation. The future of NATO has been under scrutiny since the collapse of Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact. In response to this scrutiny and the changing global security posture NATO acknowledged the need to undergo major changes in order to remain relevant as an alliance. As the world continues to live under the shadow of terrorism the United States must evaluate its efforts in support of NATO transformation in both the political and military domains. The path set for NATO at the Prague Summit and verified at Istanbul last year provided little guidance into the methods of achieving these new and exciting objectives. The summit left the military transformation task to the newly formed Allied Command Transformation a concept also birthed at the summit. The members at Prague provided the following objectives to the Alliance to focus its effort; the alliance should be able to protect human rights combat terrorism ensure peace and stability and prepare forces for conducting expeditionary operations outside of NATO territory. These objectives coupled with the policy of enlargement have set the strategic way ahead for transforming NATO. The ever increasing role of the European Union in global security matters the War on Terror and the United States own massive Department of Defense transformation are creating both new challenges and opportunities for U.S. policy makers and the military leaders charged with sustaining NATO transformation. This paper examines the U.S. driven NATO enlargement strategy discusses the current the enlargement as it relates Istanbul Initiatives and recommends a transformation action that would enhance NATO7
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 18, 2005
- Accession Number
- ADA432425
Entities
People
- Henricus F. Wagenaar
Organizations
- United States Army War College