Process of drafting the new Strategic Concept
24. The Council in Permanent Session—made up
of Allied countries' permanent representatives in Brussels—was
tasked at NATO's Madrid Summit with examining and updating as
necessary the 1991 Strategic Concept, with the assumption that
the resulting work would—
... confirm our commitment to the core function of
Alliance collective defence and the indispensable transatlantic
link.[37]
In the autumn of 1997, terms of reference were developed,
which were approved in the ministerial meetings of the North Atlantic
Council that December. The process itself involved the identification
of passages in the 1991 Strategic Concept that were in need of
'updating' because they had been rendered obsolescent by changes
in the strategic environment or subsequent events. There followed
a long series of 'brainstorming' sessions, as a result of which
a draft of a revised Strategic Concept was presented by the International
Staff in the late summer of last year.[38]
The final document is intended to provide a clear guide as to
the Alliance's purpose for the next ten to fifteen years, as well
as to guide NATO's central military planners in the drafting of
their major planning document.
25. While originally most members had pleaded for
minimal revisions, stressing the remit of 'updating as necessary',
enthusiasm for a much more thorough revision grew markedly in
some quarters, particularly as several fundamental issues were
raised. These include:[39]
- the balance between 'old [Cold War] missions'
and 'new [post-Cold War] missions', or, in the words of Sir Michael
Alexander, the balance between collective defence and collective
security missions;
- the mandate under which NATO might take action,
other than in a clear Article 5 situation;
- the definition of the area in which NATO might
in future operate;
- relations with non-members of NATO;
- the structural adaptation of NATO to new missions
and enlargement; and
- the strengthening of a European Security and
Defence Identity (ESDI) within NATO.
We discuss these issues more fully below.
37 Madrid Declaration, para 19 Back
38 Private
briefing, NATO HQ Back
39 Ev
p 119 Back
|
