Combating terrorism

A series of articles under the theme: 'Combating terrorism'. Articles include: NATO’s response to terrorism - NATO-Russia cooperation to counter terrorism - Combating WMD proliferation - Combating terrorism in the Mediterranean

Ever since passenger aircraft were flown deliberately into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington DC on 11 September 2001, discussions of terrorism and ways to combat this menace have featured prominently on NATO’s agenda. Indeed, just one day after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the Alliance invoked Article 5, its collective-defence clause, for the first time in its history. This issue of NATO Review, which is entitled Combating terrorism, examines the Alliance’s work in this field in the intervening years. In the first of four articles devoted to the central theme, Dagmar de Mora-Figueroa of NATO’s Defence Planning and Policy Division examines the overall NATO response. Andrei Kelin, a departmental director of the Russian Foreign Ministry, describes how NATO and Russia are forging an increasingly effective partnership in response to the terrorist threat. Eric R. Terzuolo, author of the forthcoming book NATO and Weapons of Mass Destruction, considers NATO’s role in combating WMD proliferation. And Vice Admiral Roberto Cesaretti, the commander of Operation Active Endeavour, examines how the Alliance has been combating terrorism in the Mediterranean since October 2001.

In the debate, Lionel Ponsard and David S.Yost, both of the NATO Defense College in Rome, discuss whether it is time for NATO to update its Strategic Concept. In the interview, Gijs de Vries, the European Union’s counter-terrorism coordinator, explains how the European Union is seeking to address the terrorist threat. To mark the tenth anniversary of NATO’s first air campaign in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ryan C. Hendrickson of Eastern Illinois University examines the events and significance of Operation Deliberate Force. Two features examine steps that NATO has taken to develop and improve the Alliance’s chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear defences, on the one hand, and missile defences on the other. And Peter van Ham of the Netherlands Institute of International Relations “Clingendael” in The Hague, examines the challenges NATO is facing as it takes on an increasingly global role. Statistics on defence spending and military personnel of NATO-Russia Council countries round out the issue.