NATO and European Security: Back to the Roots?

Abstract:

The crisis in and around Ukraine since 2014 meant a major change for NATO. At the September 2014 Wales Summit, the allies put collective defence back as the primus inter pares among NATO’s three core tasks (the other two being crisis management and cooperative security). Being back in business does not necessarily make life easier for the Alliance. While collective defence is an old task, it can hardly mean “back to the roots,” because NATO needs to perform in an environment that fundamentally differs from the Cold War in security, political, financial and military terms. Both the internal dynamics within the Alliance and the external conditions have changed tremendously. All this requires substantial rethinking.

NATO needs to relearn collective defence, yet in a different setting. Moreover, a sole concentration on that task neglects the security challenges faced by the Southern allies in particular. The 2015 Paris attacks are a clear reminder of this. Thus, the Alliance needs to find a balance between collective defence and crisis management, both in updated versions, and also to factor in its third core task, cooperative security.