NATO CHIEFS OF DEFENSE ON THE STRATEGIC CONCEPT

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 USNATO 000406 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/23/2019 TAGS: PREL NATO MCAP MOPS SUBJECT: NATO CHIEFS OF DEFENSE ON THE STRATEGIC CONCEPT REF: A. USNATO 334 ¶B. SG(2009)0797 Classified By: Political Advisor Kelly Degnan. Reasons: 1.4 (b) and (d ). ¶1. (C/REL NATO) SUMMARY: At the September 23 meeting of the North Atlantic Council, the Chairman of the NATO Military Committee reported that NATO Chiefs of Defense expressed concern at their September 18-19 Lisbon meeting that a military voice was not represented in the Group of Experts appointed to advise the Secretary General on the drafting of NATO's new Strategic Concept. He also said that Chiefs of Defense discussed the roles of Article 5, partnerships, and resources to the development of the Strategic Concept. END SUMMARY ¶2. (C/REL NATO) At the September 23 meeting of the North Atlantic Council, the Chairman of the NATO Military Committee (CMC) Admiral Giampaola Di Paola reported on the September 18-19 NATO Chiefs of Defense (CHODs) meeting in Lisbon, particularly the CHODs' discussion of the substance and process involved in the drafting of NATO's new Strategic Concept. CHODs Concerned About Lack of Voice on Group Of Experts -------------- -------------- ¶3. (C/REL NATO) Di Paola said that CHODs had specifically instructed him to note their strong feelings and concern that there was not military representation among the twelve members of the Group of Experts chosen by the Secretary General to advise him on the development of the Strategic Concept. He said CHODs were concerned that their voices would not be heard in the process. (Note: The composition of the Group of Experts was reported ref A.) ¶4. (C/REL NATO) In response, NATO Deputy Secretary General Claudio Bisogniero said that Secretary General Rasmussen was committed to strong military involvement in the Strategic Concept process. As an example, he said that the military were expected to be active participants in the various seminars that were being organized to enhance the strategic debate that would shape the development of the Strategic Concept. He added that current plans call for NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Transformation (SACT) to co-host the final seminar. (Note: Ref B, which sets out the seminar schedule, was e-mailed to EUR/RPM.) Three Themes: Article 5, Partnership, and Resources -------------- -------------- ¶5. (C/REL NATO) Di Paola said that the CHODs' discussion focused on three main themes: Article 5, partnership, and resources: -- Article 5: According to Di Paola, CHODs made clear that collective defense commitments under Article 5 of the Washington Treaty remained at the core of NATO and should not be questioned. At the same time, he said that they did ask what Article 5 meant in terms of 21st century challenges. For example, he said that they indicated that the relationship between collective defense and collective security in the new environment should be explored. They also expressed the view that Allies should explore the interplay between Articles 4, 5, and 6 of the Washington Treaty. -- Partnership: Di Paola said that CHODs took the view that it is impossible to deny that NATO is an actor in a globalized environment. Without advocating a "global NATO," NATO did have to engage other actors in that environment. Partnership was important in order to "share security." Di Paola said that this view of partnership included NATO's relations with other international and regional organizations, particularly the EU. -- Resources: Di Paola said that CHODs were concerned that the Strategic Concept would set ambitions that would not be "resource aware." He said that CHODs believed that the level of ambition set by the Strategic Concept needed to be USNATO 00000406 002 OF 002 "coherent and consistent" with the level of resources that Allied governments would ultimately be willing to provide for its implementation, particularly given the current financial crisis. Di Paola warned that if it did not, the new Strategic Concept would turn out to be little more than a "fairy tale exercise." DAALDER