In April 2009 NATO will be celebrating its 60th anniversary. The anniversary summit will provide a good opportunity to take stock and to establish clarity regarding the future duties of the organisation. Speaking in Berlin, Chancellor Angela Merkel declared that it will also be a good time to consider a new strategic concept.
Speaking at an assembly of the German Atlantic Association, the Chancellor stressed that NATO was still the "guarantor of peace and liberty”, but pointed out that the time has come to consider what challenges face it today. These are many and varied, including the threat of terrorism and failed states. We must then ask whether it is possible to take preventive action at political level to avert these risks, she stated.
Afghanistan – the challenge for NATO
The greatest single challenge currently facing NATO is Afghanistan. The Chancellor expressly thanked all those who have served and are serving there. She expressed her great "respect and recognition” for those who are fighting there and those who have lost their lives "in the fight with an invisible enemy”.
The goal of stabilising Afghanistan has not yet been achieved, she said. Sustainable structures must still be put in place. To that end, however, the Afghans too must make it clear that they "want to stand on their own feet politically”. We don’t want to force a western model on Afghanistan, but in dialogue with the Afghan side we aim to "identify clearly” which structures they need, for instance to help them build an Afghan police force.
The discussion must not be reduced to the numbers of soldiers deployed though. Rather, military security must be closely linked to civilian reconstruction. "There can be no security without reconstruction and no reconstruction without security,” the Chancellor declared with conviction. The challenges in Afghanistan can only be mastered within the framework of "networked security” she stated. The question for NATO is then, "How can we translate this into a strategy?”
NATO: A political alliance?
Time and time again Angela Merkel pointed out that security cannot be achieved with military means alone. Today NATO must cooperate far more often and in much more depth with other, often civilian, stakeholders. "This cooperative form of action must become the norm,” she demanded. And this poses the question of the extent to which NATO sees itself as a political alliance.
In spite of many new and unanswered questions, a few facts are clear. "NATO and the transatlantic partnership must not in any way be called into question,” she stated unequivocally. On this point there can be no dissention.
With regard to the accession ambitions of Georgia and the Ukraine she retained an open mind, but did emphasise that the preconditions for membership have not yet been met in either country. Referring to Russia, the Chancellor advocated a "close and reliable partnership”. It is important, she stated, to send out a clear signal of political wisdom.
Under the banner "NATO talks around the Brandenburger Tor" the German Atlantic Association organised an international security conference on transatlantic issues. Six embassies sited around the Brandenburger Tor, or Brandenburg Gate, are involved in this event: the French, British, Russian, Ukrainian, Hungarian and US embassies. Visitors from more than 40 countries have made the trip to Berlin.
