Meeting Future Military Challenges to NATO
Abstract
It has been almost a decade since the Berlin Wall collapsed under the weight of an ideology which was at odds with the human spirit. With the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact and demise of Soviet military power, the imminent threat of a conventional attack of the scale and breadth that the Alliance faced for its first forty years vanished. Strategic warning of such an attack had been measured in days; we now have the luxury of addressing far lesser challenges in terms of months or years. Of equal if not greater importance is the universal recognition of the bankruptcy of the ideology that drove the threat. Thus the means and will that menaced the West have been swept onto the rubbish heap of history. NATO should be proud of its victory in the Cold War, a triumph that produced no real losers--only winners. As we celebrate that accomplishment, we must prepare for the formidable challenges of the next century. While they are less imminent threats to Western survival, they nevertheless pose a fundamental danger because of their insidious mechanisms, intrinsic complexity, and intractability to resolution. Besting them will test the will and instruments of the Alliance to a degree that will rival and in some respects exceed that posed by the Warsaw Pact.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 1999
- Accession Number
- ADA528429
Entities
People
- Wesley K. Clark
Organizations
- National Defense University