(from left to right) NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the Hon. Madeleine K. Albright, Chair of the Group of experts and Mr Jeroen van der Veer, Vice-chair. © NATO***
NATO’s New Strategic Concept, A Strategic Opportunity For Israel
August 21, 2009Baltimore
Matthew Mark Horn
Special to the Jewish Times
Several years ago, we created AJCongress’ NATO-Israel Program based on the changing international security dynamic in the post 9/11 world, coupled with the fact that Israel as a Western democracy should be afforded the opportunity to become a NATO partner or member regardless of its geography. We forged a unique partnership with the Atlantic Forum of Israel, then-headed by Dr. Uzi Arad, who currently serves as Prime Minister Netanyahu’s national security advisor, and its executive director Prof. Tommy Steiner. We are the first and only Jewish organization to undertake a project that advocates for an upgrade in Israel’s formal relationship within NATO from that of a Mediterranean Dialogue participant (currently there are 7 participants) to that of a full-fledged NATO partner.
In early July 2009, I attended the launch of NATO’s new Strategic Concept held in Brussels which laid the foundation for how NATO will conduct itself over the next decade (the last one is ten years old and now dated). As the then-Secretary General de Hoop Scheffer stated, [the purpose of the new strategic concept is to] “determine how our needs and capabilities can be tailored to meet the challenges now really important for the security of our allies.” This year-plus long drafting process of the new Strategic Concept provides us with the opportunity to seek a change in NATO’s partnership structure that allows democracies such as Japan, Israel and Australia to become partners and perhaps even members. As NATO prosecutes a war outside of its traditional Euro-Atlantic area of operation in Afghanistan, it is only fitting that new partnership requirements for democracies outside Europe are incorporated in the new Strategic Concept.
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NATO's New Strategic Concept: The Group of Experts on the new Strategic Concept met with Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen at NATO Headquarters for the first time and attended a special North Atlantic Council meeting.
At the NATO Summit in Strasbourg/Kehl on 4 April 2009, Heads of State and Government (HoSG) tasked the Secretary General to develop a new NATO Strategic Concept. This exercise should be completed by the time of NATO’s next Summit which is expected to take place in Lisbon in late 2010. The Summit also tasked the Secretary General to convene and lead a broad based group of qualified experts who will lay the ground for the new Strategic Concept. This will be done with the active involvement of the North Atlantic Council (NAC).
Click here for NATO Strategic Concept webpage.
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Young Atlanticist Network Reports From The Herzliya Conference 2009
“Deployment of Multinational Forces to the West Bank & Gaza Strip”
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Israel's Special Relations With NATO can be difficult to comprehend. Get clarity with these and other timely Global Governance issues by subscribing to the monthly newsletter. Johnny
Young Atlanticist Network Reports From The Herzliya Conference 2009On
“The Future of Israel's Relations with the Euro-Atlantic Community”“Deployment of Multinational Forces to the West Bank & Gaza Strip”
Click here for entire article
Israel's Special Relations With NATO can be difficult to comprehend. Get clarity with these and other timely Global Governance issues by subscribing to the monthly newsletter. Johnny
