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NATO : towards a new strategic concept

by Bernard Adam, Director of the GRIP

30 March 2009

During NATO's next summit on 3 and 4 April 2009, NATO will launch the revision of its strategic concept, which is to due to be adopted at the Lisbon summit, end 2010. After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, NATO has gone through an existential crisis, aggravated by the poor relationship between America and Europe ever since the 2003 Iraq war. Five issues will be put on the agenda for discussion concerning the new strategic concept.

1. Adopt, in the after-Bush period, a policy of "extending the hand of friendship" as suggested by President Obama, in order to seek common and collective security with the rest of the world.
2. Restrict, after the military failures in Iraq and Afghanistan, the use of force and military spending.
3. Prefer non-military means for crisis management (prevention of conflicts, strengthen the United Nations) and re-launch the disarmament agreements.
4. Create a new partnership with Russia (elaborating a common vision of security, abandon the anti-missile shield, stop enlarging the NATO). 5. Re-balance the USA/EU relationship so that the EU can be heard better.

Key words : NATO, new strategic concept, security, disarmament, US/EU relationship.

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