Tuesday, January 24, 2006
Has NATO a role in energy security?
Today's press has a report:
The US is setting out an ambitious agenda to bolster transatlantic ties and reform the 26-nation Nato alliance . . . The alliance is seeking to carve out a place for itself in the post-cold war world, but it is going through testing times.
The [US] ambassador. . . argued that Nato should focus on deepening its co-operation with countries such as Australia and Japan and becoming a genuine globally deployable military force in the run-up to the November [Nato transformation summit]. It should also consider setting up training academies in the Middle East and Africa, she said.
She added she hoped Nato would be able to admit new members in 2008, when Nato plans a second summit. "We’ve got to become a 21st-century organisation that the population sees as keeping it safer every day."
But operations in Afghanistan and elsewhere are still hampered by Nato’s lack of funds and resources. [The ambassador argued that] Nato needed to increase its common funding for operations rather than relying on the countries sending soldiers and materiel to pick up the bill.
She said that improved funding and long-distance airlift were also essential for the future of the Nato Response Force, the rapid reaction force, which is supposed to become fully operational this year. At present she acknowledged there were "a lot of issues and problems" with the NRF.
"This is all part of a continuum of moving from a house where basically everyone had to hold their own territory to common collective deployment at strategic distances," she said. "It’s a totally different animal." Source
The way forward?
The NATO-Russia Council was established in 2002, and seems a suitable forum to advance discussion of energy security.
"The NRC will focus on specific, well-defined projects where NATO and Russia share a common goal. NATO and Russia have agreed on an initial, specific workplan, which includes projects in the following areas:
Assessment of the terrorist threat Crisis management Non-proliferation Arms Control and Confidence-Building Measures Theater Missile Defense Search and Rescue at Sea Military-to-Military Cooperation Defense Reform Civil Emergencies New Threats and Challenges (including scientific cooperation and airspace management)
Other projects may be added as the NRC develops."
The US is setting out an ambitious agenda to bolster transatlantic ties and reform the 26-nation Nato alliance . . . The alliance is seeking to carve out a place for itself in the post-cold war world, but it is going through testing times.
The [US] ambassador. . . argued that Nato should focus on deepening its co-operation with countries such as Australia and Japan and becoming a genuine globally deployable military force in the run-up to the November [Nato transformation summit]. It should also consider setting up training academies in the Middle East and Africa, she said.
She added she hoped Nato would be able to admit new members in 2008, when Nato plans a second summit. "We’ve got to become a 21st-century organisation that the population sees as keeping it safer every day."
But operations in Afghanistan and elsewhere are still hampered by Nato’s lack of funds and resources. [The ambassador argued that] Nato needed to increase its common funding for operations rather than relying on the countries sending soldiers and materiel to pick up the bill.
She said that improved funding and long-distance airlift were also essential for the future of the Nato Response Force, the rapid reaction force, which is supposed to become fully operational this year. At present she acknowledged there were "a lot of issues and problems" with the NRF.
"This is all part of a continuum of moving from a house where basically everyone had to hold their own territory to common collective deployment at strategic distances," she said. "It’s a totally different animal." Source
The way forward?
The NATO-Russia Council was established in 2002, and seems a suitable forum to advance discussion of energy security.
"The NRC will focus on specific, well-defined projects where NATO and Russia share a common goal. NATO and Russia have agreed on an initial, specific workplan, which includes projects in the following areas:
Assessment of the terrorist threat Crisis management Non-proliferation Arms Control and Confidence-Building Measures Theater Missile Defense Search and Rescue at Sea Military-to-Military Cooperation Defense Reform Civil Emergencies New Threats and Challenges (including scientific cooperation and airspace management)
Other projects may be added as the NRC develops."
# posted by IJ @ 4:56 AM 
