Political-Military Trends in Italy, Greece, and Spain

Abstract

These studies of the current geo-political climates in Greece, Italy, and Spain provide an important backdrop to a number of questions relevant to the study of U.S. Navy-host nation cooperation on AT-FP policies. That cooperation takes place within a context shaped by the host nations' security concerns and national politics and the developing security issues of the region. In addition, the overall atmosphere of US-European and US-host nation relations shape the extent to which the U.S. Navy can work with the host nation to craft an effective AT-FP policy for Navy shore establishments. If we are to provide realistic and useful conclusions and recommendation for the Navy's way ahead on this issue, then they must be grounded on a realistic and useful reading of the current state of political and military cooperation, as well as an accurate assessment of differing security interests and areas of possible friction in the future. The first conclusion we can draw from these papers is that there is a broad agreement among the host nations on the main security challenges facing them in the near future, and that there is enough overlap with U.S. interests to support continued cooperation on AT-FP issues. All three nations face immigration problems from North Africa and other regions to the south and east of Europe. They also have concerns about the security of maritime traffic (crime, proliferation, immigration, drugs) in the Mediterranean. While threats from traditional military sources have diminished since the end of the Cold War, these new threats pose particular problems related to anti-terrorism and the protection of forces and civilians from unconventional means of attack. U.S. attention has also moved south and east from Central Europe, and these challenges are theirs as well for forces and bases in the Mediterranean.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Dec 01, 2005
Accession Number
ADA611032

Entities

People

  • Daniel J. Whiteneck
  • Ian Lesser
  • Peter M. Swartz

Organizations

  • Center for Naval Analyses

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Counter WMD
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Space
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Cold War
  • Commerce
  • Counterterrorism
  • Employment
  • Governments
  • International Organizations
  • International Relations
  • Maritime Security
  • National Governments
  • National Politics
  • National Security
  • Navy
  • Personnel Management
  • Port Security
  • Public Policy
  • Terrorism
  • Terrorists

Readers

  • East Asian Political and Security Studies within the Soviet Union
  • Strategic Security Studies