Why NATO Needs a New Strategic Concept

On 19 November 1951, the NATO Defence College opened its doors in Paris.

The Mission of the NATO Defense College is to:

+ Contribute to the effectiveness and cohesion of the Alliance
+ Foster strategic level thinking on pol-mil matters
+ Develop a major center of education, study, and research by:
+ Preparing selected officers and officials for important NATO and NATO-related multinational appointments
+ Conducting academic studies and research in support of the Alliance's wider goals
+ Supporting an active outreach programme with other educational institutionsNATO’s current Strategic Concept was approved in 2010, at a time characterised by partnership relations with Russia, peace across Europe, and signals of democratic developments in the Arab world. Since 2014, however, the security situation in Europe has changed substantially. The European peace order that was established together with Russia after the end of the East-West conflict has ceased to exist – it has fallen prey to Russia's aggression in Eastern Europe. Hopes to establish cooperative security in the Middle East have been destroyed by civil wars, failed states, and Islamist terror. Tensions in the Asian-Pacific region could escalate to military conflicts crucially affecting vital interests of NATO member states. Most recently, the election of Donald Trump as US president might confront NATO with unprecedented internal challenges.

Given these profound changes in the international security landscape, collective defence and deterrence are back at the forefront of Alliance planning. We are, in fact, back in an 'Article-5 World'. Does this imply a need for a fundamental strategic debate about NATO’s future tasks and missions? Does NATO need to revise or replace its Strategic Concept and, if so, how should it be formulated and what elements should it contain? These questions are assessed in this NDC Research Report, written by Karl-Heinz Kamp, previously Director of the NDC Research Division and current president of the Bundesakademie für Sicherheitspolitik in Berlin.

• Primary Source

ESO: Background information: NATO's new Strategic Concept http://www.europeansources.info/record/website-natos-new-strategic-concept/

---