RFG: NOMINATION OF U.S. CANDIDATE FOR THE

C O N F I D E N T I A L USNATO 000247

NOFORN
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/08/2019
TAGS: NATO PGOV PREL
SUBJECT: RFG: NOMINATION OF U.S. CANDIDATE FOR THE
STRATEGIC CONCEPT EXPERTS GROUP

Classified By: A/POLAD A. "Hoot" Baez for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C/NF) This is a request for guidance. See paragraph 3.

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The Call for Nomination
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2. (C/NF) The Danish Representative to NATO, in his capacity
as dean of the Council, passed a letter from Secretary
General-designate Rasmussen to the Allies on May 26 (see para
5). The letter asked Allied nations to submit their
candidates for the group of experts to advise the SYG in
developing the Strategic Concept. Nations interested in
hosting a seminar for the Strategic Concept process were also
asked to indicate interest.


3. (C/NF) Request for Guidance: We request guidance for the
U.S. candidates and any other response or comment to the
Secretary General-designate's letter by COB June 12, Central
European Time. Nations may put forward multiple names, but
maximum of one from each would be drawn.

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Names Already in Circulation
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4. (C/NF) The Policy Planning Unit of the SYG's Private
Office shared with USNATO names of candidates already put
forward by seven nations:

-- France: Bruno Racine. Racine began his service as
foreign minister in the cabinet of Alain Juppe in 1993. He
was also in Jacques Chirac's cabinet.

-- Germany: Hans-Friedrich von Ploetz. Ploetz was the
German PermRep to NATO from 1989 to 1993 and later ambassador
to the UK and Russia.

-- Italy: Giancarlo Aragona. Aragona was formerly the
Italian Deputy Chief of Mission at NATO in the late eighties
and served as the second OSCE Secretary General.

-- Poland: Adam Rotfeld. Rotfeld was Poland's foreign
minister in 2005; he was also a member of the SYG,s wisemen
group for the Declaration on Alliance Security.

-- Portugal: Antonio Vitorino. Vitorino was the Defense
Minister and deputy prime minister in the first government of
Antonio Guterres. He later became the European Commissioner
for Justice and Home Affairs.

-- Spain: Fernando Perpina. Perpina was previously Spain's
deputy secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He also
served as Spain's ambassador to Hungary and Consul General in
Paris.

-- Turkey: Mit Pamir. Pamir was the Turkish PermRep to NATO
from 2004 - 2006.


COMMENT: PPU thought the relatively low level and unevenness
of the list above showed a lack of consultation and as a
result, some nations have nominated "negotiators" rather than
big thinkers to propound and protect national positions and
interests. END COMMENT


5. (SBU) BEGIN TEXT of SYG-designate Rasmussen's letter:

-- In the "Declaration on Alliance Security" issued by Heads
of State and Government at the Strasbourg/Kehl Summit, the
Heads of State and Government tasked the Secretary General to
convene and lead a broad-based group of qualified experts,
who in close consultation with all Allies will lay the ground
for the Secretary General to develop a new Strategic Concept
and submit proposals for its implementation at our next
summit. The Secretary General will keep the Council in
permanent session involved throughout the process.

-- While the current Secretary General will convene and chair
a first seminar on the issue of a new Strategic Concept in
Brussels on 7 July, the Secretary General and Secretary
General Designate have agreed to leave it to the Secretary
General Designate to launch the process of convening and

leading a broad-based group of qualified experts. This note
sets out how the Secretary General Designate intends to
proceed on the composition of the group of qualified experts.

-- The composition of the "broad-based groups of qualified
experts" (in the following "The Group") will be decided by
the Secretary General Designate and announced shortly after
the Secretary General Designate takes up his position as
Secretary General on 1 August 2009. The members of The Group
will be appointed by the Secretary General in their personal
capacities as they will be expected to contribute to the work
of The Group freely and unconstrained by national positions.

-- The Group, while broad-based, will have significantly
fewer members than the number of Allies (less than half).

-- The Secretary General Designate in deciding The Group's
composition will take into account not only the individual
candidates' personal and professional qualifications but also
a set of wider issues, including, but not necessarily limited
to, the need for balances regarding geography, "old" vs.
"new" Allies; and "small" vs. "big" Allies. The Secretary
General Designate will also interpret "broad-based" to mean a
desire to have not only "NATO-insiders" such as former
Permanent Representatives in The Group but also "outsiders"
with a background in for instance NGOs, the academic
community or the private sector.

-- There is no single indisputably ideal configuration for
such a group. Not every Ally can be expected to be equally
content with The Group's composition. However, the Secretary
General Designate will do his utmost to strike the best
possible balance.

-- To aid the Secretary General Designate in these efforts,
Allies are invited to put forward candidates for The Group.
In order to help the Secretary General Designate ensure that
The Group is heterogeneous also in terms of expertise brought
to the table, Allies may wish to present more than one
candidate. However, to ensure the balances referred to
above, no Ally will have more than one of its nationals in
The Group.

-- While members of The Group would be appointed in their
personal capacities, their governments would be expected to
cover all expenses pertaining to their participation in The
Group's work.

-- Allies that wish to submit candidates for The Group should
do so through the Dean of the North Atlantic Council no later
than Friday 12 June 2009.

-- The incoming Secretary General, soon after assuming his
post, will lay out his intentions on other procedural
elements in more detail. One of these elements will be a
string of seminars in the Autumn of 2009 and the first few
months of 2010, the first of which is the seminar on 7 July,
where the participation of candidates for The Group is
encouraged.

-- Subsequent seminars, of which 3-4 are envisaged, and for
which the participation of Permanent Representatives would be
very welcome, would ideally be held outside of Brussels, as
this would allow for wider involvement in the process leading
up to the development of a new Strategic Concept. Such
seminars could be organized by think tanks in Allied nations
with the support and advice on an IS team. Seminars could
focus on issues such as a) the comprehensive approach and
NATO's cooperation with other internationals organizations;
b) collective defence, deterrence and operations in today's
security environment; c) NATO's role in building security in
the Euro-Atlantic are, enlargement and NATO's partnerships;
d) capabilities, transformation and NATO-reform.

-- The Secretary General Designate would welcome offers from
Allies to host one of these seminars, ideally also in the 12
June 2009 timeframe. END TEXT
DAALDER