NATO
isnt just a one-way street
for the United States
by
Lord Robertson
Why does the United States need NATO?
Why not go it alone? The answer is
that even a superpower needs allies
to be successful in upholding its
interests in the wider world.
Without NATO, the United States could
not have peacefully overcome its
Cold War confrontation with the Soviet
Union. In the recent Kosovo conflict,
U.S. air power was the decisive factor.
Yet it would not have been effective
without the use of Italian, German,
British, Turkish and Hungarian air
bases and the airspace made available
by NATO allies and partner
nations. Nor could U.S. and NATO troops
have been ready to deploy in Kosovo
without the use of the Greek port
at Thessaloniki.
In short, the U.S. can only bring
its enormous power to bear because
it can
depend on a network of allies such
as are found within NATO. To use a
military phrase, NATO is a “force
multiplier.”
Increasingly, Canada and the European
allies bring real resources, real
troops and real commitment to the
common security table. In Kosovo,
European nations are providing 80%
of all the forces for the KFOR peacekeeping
force, with the largest troop contributor
being Italy. Out of an
allied force of about 45,000 troops,
the U.S. now provides 6,000.
European nations are, as they promised
picking up the lion’s share of
reconstruction efforts in the Balkans.
The European Union has provided about
$16.5 billion to this region since
1991 and has budgeted nearly $12 billion
for the next six years. Although the
U.S. is the single largest provider
of troops for the international police
force in Kosovo, at roughly 15%, the
EU countries provide 40%.
Yet this increased “burden sharing”
must go further. Europe is rich enough
to
do more. It is no longer tenable that
19 allies agree on an air operation
like
Kosovo, but the United States does
80% of the work. Europe must have
the capability to take the lead in
handling crises when the United States
chooses not to be engaged. In the
21st century, we cannot be faced with
a choice between massive U.S. involvement
or no action at all.
Bluntly, this means the European
allies must improve their defense
capabilities. We are, however, already
seeing action. The EU has set itself
the goal of establishing a robust,
deployable military capability by
2003. This
complements NATO’s defense capabilities
initiative, agreed to a year ago,
which also will lead to significant
improvements in capabilities on both
sides of the Atlantic.
NATO is ready to provide some of
its assets and capabilities to support
the
EU, because a strong Europe does not
mean less from the United States,
but
rather a stronger alliance. And as
Europe pulls more weight, Washington
will be more inclined to stay engaged
because it has a real partner, in
bad times as well as good. As Secretary
General of NATO, my job is to get
the European NATO nations to put their
money behind their rhetoric and
deliver on capabilities.
The rejiggering of roles will better
reflect the balance between the U.S.
and
Europe in the economic sphere. The
EU is the No. 1 trading partner and
the No. 1 investor in the U.S. The
reverse also is true.
The ultimate reason why 51-year-old
NATO should still matter to the U.S.,
even in the very different world of
today, is that Europe and North America
share the same values. NATO is an
unprecedented community of nations
that all believe in liberty, democracy
and human rights. And they are willing
to take action to defend those beliefs.
Shared values may seem an abstract
notion. Yet, in the end, it is these
values more than anything else that
brought us together in two world wars
and that enabled us to overcome the
many crises of the Cold War and beyond.
Only last year, in the name of these
values, we successfully tackled the
challenge of Kosovo, where a cruel
dictator was killing thousands and
driving
hundreds of thousands from their homes.
Today, perhaps more than ever, we
understand that economic prosperity
and social progress are based on our
shared democratic values.
That is why American and European
allies have to stay the course
together. In the past, NATO was about
what the U.S. could do for Europe.
Today, NATO is about what the U.S.
can do with Europe.
Through the NATO alliance, the U.S.
has the strongest possible economic
and political partner for meeting
the challenges of the new century.
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