Partners – who needs them?

Partnerships in alliances are not new. The simple refrain that ‘my enemy’s enemy is my friend’ shows the logic of linking up with like-minded people, organisations or countries. And NATO has been taking advantage of partnerships since the 1990s. But now, with security challenges becoming increasingly diverse, NATO Review asks: is this the moment when partnerships have become more important than ever?

Main features include:

+ Ashton and Paloméros: why the EU and NATO need partners
NATO Review asks two of NATO and the EU's top officials how they see partnerships. And whether they could see a way to partnering with each other more.

+ Ireland: dealing with NATO and neutrality
Ireland has been a partner of NATO since the 1990s. So how has this sat with the country's famed neutral status? And what benefit does it bring to either side? NATO Review interviews Ireland's Defence Minister to find out.

+ Photostory: partners in action
Afghanistan is not the only operation where NATO has teamed up with partners. This photostory shows a few examples of partners working side by side with NATO.

+ NATO’s 'neutral' European partners: valuable contributors or free riders?
Stanley Sloan takes a deliberately provocative view of whether all sides benefit equally from neutral countries partnering with NATO. Here he looks at the pros and cons of the arrangement for the countries and the Alliance.

+ Sweden: a special NATO partner?
Among the policy agendas advanced during his tenure as NATO’s Secretary General, Anders Fogh Rasmussen has been a robust advocate for the creation of new and enhanced partnerships for the Alliance. Many states have cultivated closer ties to NATO during his leadership, including Australia, Ireland, South Korea, New Zealand and Mongolia. But Sweden certainly ranks near the top among those whose bonds have been strengthened and improved.