| Author (Person) | Davies, Eric | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Publisher | ProQuest Information and Learning | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Series Title | In Focus | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Series Details | 19.7.04 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Publication Date | 19/07/2004 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Content Type | News, Overview, Topic Guide | In Focus | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Afghanistan and Iraq were amongst the main items on the agenda when NATO Heads of State and Government met in Istanbul on 28 and 29 June. Leaders agreed to provide more assistance to Afghanistan and to provide training for Iraqi personnel. Afghanistan is a crucial issue for NATO, with the credibility of the Alliance resting on the willingness of its European partners to honour their commitments to provide men and equipment. The difficulties in providing support have highlighted problems with NATO's organisation and working methods, which are apparently not well suited to operations so far from 'home'. Providing support to Iraq also raises difficult questions for the Alliance, whose members were bitterly divided over the decision to go to war. France and Germany do not want to provide President Bush with any support which could help him win November's US Presidential election. A week after the meeting, NATO's Secretary-General, Jaap De Hoop Scheffer, said: 'All Summits have two dimensions. They are about symbolism, and they are about substance. Both dimensions are crucially important. I am happy to report that Istanbul delivered on both counts'. Symbolism isn't a problem; whether the Alliance can deliver the substance remains to be seen. Background Like the European Union, NATO is going through a period of profound change. At its Prague Summit in November 2002, the Alliance agreed that its membership would rise from 19 to 26 countries. Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia all joined in April 2004. The full membership now comprises: Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Czech Rep, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Turkey, UK, US. If Bulgaria and Romania accede to the EU in 2007, then - as the Financial Times pointed out - '21 of the 26 Nato members will also be in the EU' and the Alliance will effectively come to be based on the two blocs of the US and the EU. In the view of the FT, this raises a number of questions, including 'what should be the relationship between this US-EU alliance and the UN, in a world no longer divided by the iron curtain? [and] Is there really an enduring need for Nato given that its original raison d'etre has disappeared?' (see: As The Economist put it: 'Over the past decade, [NATO] has assumed some new roles: peacekeeping in the Balkans and Afghanistan, partnership with Russia, endless diplomatic dialogue. The old concern of defending its members' territory has faded into the background - leaving a question mark as to why the alliance need exist at all' (see: Promoting peace and stability in Afghanistan has become NATO's main priority, taking precedence over its involvement in Iraq, because the Alliance is fully committed to Afghanistan as leader of ISAF, the International Security Assistance Force. Some 6,500 troops are stationed in the country, but shortages of manpower and equipment mean they are mostly confined to Kabul. With elections scheduled for September, Afghanistan's President, Hamid Karzai, called on NATO to deploy more troops to improve security for the elections. In response, the Istanbul Summit agreed to increase the strength of ISAF to 10,000 during the election period (but some 1,300 will, reported the Financial Times, be reserved for emergencies and located outside the country - see: Some of the new personnel will be part of Provincial Reconstruction Teams in the north and west of Afghanistan. Intended to help with both security and reconstruction, the Teams were supposed to spread across the country, but limited resources mean they have so far failed to make an impact. The decision in Istanbul may, however, make a difference: NATO took command of Provincial Reconstruction Teams in Mazar-e-Sharif and Maimana on 1 July (see NATO: NATO flag raised in Mazar-e-Sharif and Maimana). The lack of men and machines in Afghanistan is symptomatic of NATO's inability to respond quickly and effectively to a crisis. Part of the problem is that NATO tends not to share costs between member countries. Resources tend to be supplied on the basis that whoever provides them also funds them. There is thus a reluctance to get involved in operations which - as in the case of Afghanistan - are far away and hence expensive to support. 'Belgium, for example, promised months ago to send helicopters. Until recently, they remained in the hangars because the finance ministry was not prepared to foot the bill once they left the country' (see Financial Times: Almost inevitably, therefore, the tendency is for the wealthier members of the Alliance - which are often those with the greatest military capability - to contribute disproportionately to NATO operations. In the words of the Financial Times, NATO's Secretary-General 'has had to take his begging bowl around Europe to get men and equipment' (see: At the end of June, it was reported that 'After battling for many months for helicopters, the force is now well equipped but needs aircraft ... Four countries have provisionally offered aircraft, but none has yet been delivered' (see Financial Times: Mr de Hoop Scheffer believes that this principle (referred to as 'costs lie where they fall') is unfair, arguing that it 'undermines the very logic of Nato as a coalition in which burdens are shared equitably and fairly' (see Financial Times: The situation is exacerbated by the way in which the Alliance plans its operations. It is only after a mission has been agreed at political level that member states are asked what resources they can contribute. A 'force generation conference' brings together military planners who, in theory, have access to what the Financial Times termed 'a huge inventory of helicopters, tanks, troops and aircraft' (see: The US invaded Afghanistan in response to the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001. Following the attacks, NATO for the first time invoked Article 5 of its Treaty, calling on members to assist one of their number under attack. The US, however, ignored the offer of help and decided instead to effectively go it alone in Afghanistan. NATO's involvement in Afghanistan only came about later, when it took on a 'peacekeeping' role. The United States' willingness to act unilaterally and to put together 'coalitions of the willing' is seen by some as a threat to NATO as an organisation for collective defence, as it 'looks like becoming an increasingly European (and Canadian) alliance (see Financial Times: NATO is at least fully committed to Afghanistan. Iraq is an altogether different matter. Prior to the Summit, The Economist forecast that 'rancour over Iraq, darkening the summit like a cloud, may prevent it from agreeing anything useful' (see: Nevertheless, in what was seen as a compromise, the Istanbul Summit decided to 'offer assistance to the Government of Iraq with the training of its security forces'. The BBC said the agreement 'fell well short of US hopes that Nato would assume a major military role in Iraq' (see: Karzai's plea to Nato on troops). Even that limited offer was, however, couched in such broad terms that, if accepted, it will see NATO members providing training to military or police personnel either inside or outside Iraq as each country sees fit. (A Statement on Iraq read: 'we have decided today to offer NATO's assistance to the government of Iraq with the training of its security forces. We therefore also encourage nations to contribute to the training of the Iraqi armed forces'). France and Germany reportedly wanted training to be undertaken outside Iraq, but other NATO countries argued that that would not be practical. However, 'Several European diplomats said they did not want Nato to become a 'subcontractor' for the US when sovereignty is handed over to an interim Iraqi government' revealed the Financial Times (see: The Summit also discussed and agreed other issues, details of which were given in a Communiqu�a>. They included:
Further information within European Sources Online European Sources Online: Topic Guides
European Sources Online: In Focus
European Sources Online: Financial Times
European Sources Online: The Economist
Further information can be seen in these external links:(long-term access cannot be guaranteed) EU Institutions Council of the European Union
Other sources NATO BBC News Online
European Policy Centre
Eric Davies Background and reporting on the week's main stories in the European Union and the wider Europe. |
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| Subject Categories | Security and Defence | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
