The North Atlantic Treaty Organization: The Enduring Alliance

Foreword xiFor those of us that teach, research, and practice in the area, thisaccess to information has been at best frustrating. We were delighted,then, when Routledge saw the value of a series that bucks this trendand provides key reference points to the most significant global institutions. They are betting that serious students and professionals willwant serious analyses. We have assembled a first-rate line-up ofauthors to address that market. Our intention, then, is to provide onestop shopping for all readers – students (both undergraduate andpostgraduate), interested negotiators, diplomats, practitioners fromnongovernmental and intergovernmental organizations, and interestedparties alike – seeking information about the most prominent institutional aspects of global governance.The North Atlantic Treaty OrganizationWhen we first sat down to think about the line-up for our series on“global” institutions, we nonetheless placed very high on our list ofpriorities a book about an institution that was not global in membership or reach – NATO, the most powerful alliance composed only ofWestern countries. Founded in 1949 primarily to counter the perceivedmilitary threat from the Soviet Union and its allies, NATO membersagreed in its oft-cited Article 5 that an attack on one of them would beconsidered as an attack against them all. Originally consisting oftwelve members, it was increased by three more in the 1950s, includingWest Germany. The Soviet Union responded by establishing theWarsaw Pact in 1955. The Alliance was so successful as a deterrentthat it never resorted to Article 5 or deployed the substantial militaryforces under its umbrella during the Cold War.The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the implosion of the SovietUnion and the Warsaw Pact in 1991 led to a reassessment of theAlliance’s role in the world. One clear need was to keep the nonEuropean members, and especially the United States, engaged inEurope. Another was to reassess NATO’s role in relationship to theerstwhile Soviet bloc. A third was to find a new diplomatic and militaryrole for the Alliance.Fifty-five years after its foundation, the Alliance invited formerlycommunist states (but not Russia) to join the partnership for peace,and in February 1994 launched its first-ever aggressive military operation in Bosnia-Herzegovina when it shot down Serbian fighter planesviolating a UN “no-fly zone” and also bombed Serbian ground targets.In 1997 Russia gained a formal voice in NATO’s affairs in return forthe acceptance of an expansion into Eastern Europe. At present,

xiiForewordNATO has twenty-six members including several former Soviet allies.And in 1999, NATO engaged in a humanitarian war in Kosovo, andhas subsequently been involved in training and other military activitiesin Afghanistan.NATO has twenty countries associated with its Partnership forPeace (including twelve former Soviet Republics), and is engaged in theMediterranean Dialogue with another seven countries from thesouthern side of the Mediterranean. American dominance of the institution has always been a reality – leading to the departure of Francefrom the institution in 1966 and the subsequent departure of theSupreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) from Paris toBrussels in 1967.The adaptation and transformation of institutions is a commonthread in this series, and nowhere is this more obvious than with NATO.What a ride it has been! When we thought about possible authors, JulianLindley-French’s name jumped immediately to mind. Currently a seniorscholar at the Center for Applied Policy at the University of Munich,and Senior Associate Fellow at the Defence Academy of the UnitedKingdom, Julian is a well-published commentator on transatlantic relations and European security and defense. As the historical nuts-and-boltsof the Western Alliance are essential to understanding its past andthinking about its future, we recommend to readers his authoritative 2005work A Chronology of European Security and Defence 1945–2005.1 Julianhas acted as a consultant to NATO and lectured widely on transatlanticrelations and European defense including at the Department of WarStudies, King’s College London, at the European Union Institute forSecurity Studies in Paris, and at the Geneva Center for Security Policy.We have come to trust our authors; Julian is no different. We weredelighted when he accepted our offer to contribute this book to theseries; and we are proud of the result. He has produced an insightfulvolume that charts a path through the congested terrain of the ColdWar and post-Cold War periods, including current concerns such asfighting terrorism and halting the proliferation of weapons of massdestruction. It is a first-rate book: informative, knowledgeable, andconsidered – with a dose of amusing anecdotes as well. We know thosewho have come to expect the highest standards from our books willnot be disappointed. We are pleased to recommend it to all. As always,comments and suggestions from readers are welcome.Thomas G. Weiss, The CUNY Graduate Center, New York, USARorden Wilkinson, University of Manchester, UKMay 2006

List of PCHODCIMICCISCJPSAnti-Ballistic Missile (treaty)Allied Command OperationsAllied Command TransformationAction OrderAllied Forces NorthAllied Forces SouthAllied Joint PublicationsAllied Missile DefenseAtlantic Nuclear ForceAllied PublicationsAllied Command Europe, Rapid Reaction CorpsAssociation of South-East Asian NationsAtlantic Treaty AssociationAfrican UnionAirborne Warning and ControlBritish Army of the RhineBattle GroupsAmerican Long-Range BomberCrisis Action TeamChemical, Biological, Radiological and NuclearCommon European Defense PolicyCommon European Security and Defense PolicyCommand, Control, Communications andComputersConventional Armed Forces in Europe (talks/treaty)Common Foreign and Security PolicyChiefs of Defense StaffCivil Military Co-operationCommonwealth of Independent StatesCombined Joint Planning Staffs

xivList of AcronymsCJTFCombined Joint Task ForceCOMUSEUCOMCommander of the US European CommandCPSUCommunist Party of the Soviet UnionCROCrisis Response OperationCSCEConference on Security and Co-operation in EuropeDCIDefense Capabilities InitiativeDPCDefense Planning CommitteeDPKODepartment of Peacekeeping Operations (UN)DPPDefense Planning ProcessDSACEURDeputy Supreme Allied Commander, EuropeDSACTDeputy Supreme Allied Commander, TransformationEAPCEuro-Atlantic Partnership CouncilECEuropean CommunityECAPEuropean Capabilities Action PlanECSCEuropean Coal and Steel CommunityEDCEuropean Defense CommunityEDUEuropean Defense UnionEECEuropean Economic CommunityEPCEuropean Political Co-operationERRCEuropean Rapid Reaction CorpsERRFEuropean Rapid Reaction ForceERRMEuropean Rapid Reaction MechanismESDIEuropean Security and Defense IdentityESDPEuropean Security and Defense PolicyESSEuropean Security StrategyEUEuropean UnionEUFOREU ForceEUMCEU Military CommitteeEUROFOREuropean ForceEUROMARFOREuropean Maritime ForceFAWEUForces Answerable to the Western European UnionFBEAGFranco-British European Air GroupFBSForward Base SystemFLRForces of Lower ReadinessFOCFull Operating CapabilityFOFAFollow-on Force AttackFRGFederal Republic of GermanyFYROMFormer Yugoslav Republic of MacedoniaGACGeneral Affairs CouncilGDPGross Domestic ProductGDRGerman Democratic RepublicGLCMGround-Launched Cruise Missile

List of AcronymsGPALSGlobal Protection Against Limited StrikesGSFGGroup of Soviet Forces GermanyGWOTGlobal War on TerrorHG2010Headline Goal 2010HHGHelsinki Headline GoalHLGHigh-Level GroupHQ COMSPMARFOR HQ Commander Spanish Maritime ForcesHQ COMUKMARFORHQ Commander UK Maritime ForcesHRFHigh-Readiness ForcesIAEAInternational Atomic Energy AgencyICBMIntercontinental Ballistic MissileICIIstanbul Co-operation InitiativeIEPGIndependent European Program GroupIFORImplementation ForceIGCIntergovernmental ConferenceIISSInternational Institute for Strategic StudiesIMSIntegrated Military StructureINFIntermediate Nuclear ForcesIOInternational OrganizationIPPIndividual Partnership ProgramIPSCInterim Political and Security CommitteeIPTFInternational Police Task ForceISInternational StaffISAInternational Security Assistance ForceISTARIntelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition &ReconnaissanceJNAYugoslav National ArmyKFORKosovo ForceLRTNFLong-Range Theater Nuclear ForcesLTDPLong-Term Defense ProgramMADMutually Assured DestructionMAPMembership Action PlanMAPEXMap ExerciseMBFRMutually Balanced Force ReductionMCMilitary CommitteeMIRVMultiple Independent Re-entry VehicleMITMilitary Implications TeamMLFMultilateral ForceMRCAMulti-role Combat AircraftNACNorth Atlantic CouncilNACCNorth Atlantic Co-operation CouncilNATONorth Atlantic Treaty Organizationxv

xviList of AcronymsNATO COEFOPECORBATOSCENATO Parliamentary AssemblyNuclear, Biological and ChemicalNATO Command StructureNetwork-centric WarfareNATO Force StructureNon-Governmental OrganizationNuclear Planning GroupNATO Response ForceNational Security CouncilNew Strategic ConceptNational Security Decision DirectiveNational Security Decision MemorandumNATO Security ForceNuclear and Space TalksNATO Consultation, Command and Control AgencyNATO Undersea Research CenterOperation Enduring FreedomOrganization of Petroleum-Exporting CountriesOrder of BattleOrganization for Security and Co-operation inEuropePARPPartnership Planning and Review ProcessPCPolitical CommitteePCCPrague Capabilities CommitmentPCGPolicy Co-ordination GroupPDPresidential DirectivePfPPartnership for PeacePGMPrecision-Guided MunitionsPITPolitical Implications TeamPJCNATO–Russia Permanent Joint CouncilPJHQPermanent Joint HeadquartersPRTProvincial Reconstruction TeamPSCPolitical and Security CommitteePSOPeace Support OperationQDRQuadrennial Defense ReviewR&TResearch and TechnologyRHQ AFNORTHRegional Headquarters, Allied Forces NorthRMARevolution in Military AffairsRSFSRRussian Soviet Federal Socialist RepublicRTAResearch and Technology AgencySACEURSupreme Allied Commander, EuropeSACTSupreme Allied Commander, Transformation

List of AcronymsxviiSALTStrategic Arms Limitation TalksSCEPCSenior Civil Emergency Planning CommitteeSDIStrategic Defense InitiativeSEADSuppression of Enemy Air DefensesSEATOSouth East Asia Treaty OrganizationSEDEast German Communist PartySFORStabilization ForceSHAPESupreme Headquarters Allied Powers EuropeSITCENSituation CenterSOFSpecial Operations ForcesSPCSenior Political CommitteeSRFStrategic Rocket ForceSSSurface to Surface Missile (Soviet)SSBNSubmersible Ballistic NuclearSSMSurface to Surface Missile (Western)STANAVLANT Standing Naval Force, AtlanticSTANAVFORMEDStanding Naval Force, MediterraneanSTARTStrategic Arms Reduction TalksTEUTreaty on European UnionTNFTheater Nuclear ForcesUKUnited KingdomUKNAFUK–Netherlands Amphibious ForceUNUnited NationsUNMIBHUnited Nations Mission in Bosnia and HerzegovinaUNPAUnited Nations Protected AreasUNPROFOR United Nations Protection ForceUNSCUnited Nations Security CouncilUNSCOMUnited Nations Special CommissionUSUnited StatesUSSRUnion of Soviet Socialist RepublicsVHFVery High Readiness ForcesWEAGWestern European Armaments GroupWEUWestern European UnionWMDWeapons of Mass DestructionWTOWarsaw Treaty Organization

Introduction Five Core MessagesThe North Atlantic Treaty Organization: The Enduring AllianceThere is an irreverent joke that it is illuminating to consider. NATOSecretary-General, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, and EU High Representative,Javier Solana, are having breakfast with God. Conversation tilts thisway and that in a spirit of camaraderie and good humor. Towards theend of breakfast de Hoop Scheffer puts a direct question to the allpowerful, all-seeing one. “Tell me, God, will NATO ever be a trulyglobal security and defense organization?” God thinks hard about thisquestion and after some reflection replies, “Yes, Jaap, but not in yourlifetime.” Javier Solana, not to be outdone and having much experienceof both NATO and the EU, poses a similar question. “God, will theEU ever be a functioning security and defense organization?” At firstGod looks baffled, and then worried, and after a seeming eternityreplies: “Yes, Javier, but not in my lifetime.” That mythical exchangecaptures at least part of NATO’s reality (as it does the EU’s) as theorganization takes on new roles in a new world. The central questionposed by this book is: can NATO close the gap between the politicomilitary challenges the Allies face and the politico-military power itcan generate? The central message of this book is that is precisely thechallenge NATO has always faced, and indeed will face.Today NATO has twenty-six members: Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada,the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece,Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia,Spain, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States. And, it is atestament to the political value of the Alliance that ten of thosecountries were members of the Warsaw Treaty Organization, NATO’sadversary.

2IntroductionEver since its creation in 1949 the North Atlantic Treaty Organization(NATO) has been an organization that has been asked to do too much,with too little, with members from very different strategic backgroundsand cultures. Such different traditions have led to very differentstrategic visions with which the Alliance has had to cope. Throughoutthe Cold War, Americans sought to maintain continental Americaninvulnerability, whereas Europeans saw vulnerability as simply a factof life. Americans saw security and defense as intrinsically linked totheir own idea, Europeans saw security and defense as intrinsicallylinked to where they lived. Americans saw the Cold War as a globalstruggle, Europeans as simply the latest chapter in the European powerstruggle down the ages. Americans were containing Soviet communism, Europeans were confronting Russians. Europeans were in retreatfrom global leadership, Americans were preparing for it. It was, and is,ever thus.Today, as NATO embarks on new missions it faces a world in whichthe very nature and utility of power is being questioned. For all that,NATO’s story is one of success. That the Alliance made the majorcontribution in winning the Cold War cannot be questioned. The political solidarity of democracies is an awesome weapon when credibleand cohesive, a fact that should not be lost on those seeking to challenge the West.Equally, NATO is a “big security” organization that is at its bestdealing with “big picture” security. Consequently, as an extension ofthe transatlantic security relationship that it serves, NATO has neverbeen particularly comfortable, or successful, when dealing with “smallpicture” security. The sub-strategic conflict of the type that tragicallyground its way across the Balkans in the 1990s challenged not justEurope, but the very utility of political tools such as NATO. Indeed,like its political masters, NATO struggled to find a solution to a warthat was of a state, rather than between states. The Wars of theYugoslav Succession demonstrated the difficulties the Alliance hasconfronted as it moved away from classical confrontation à la ColdWar, through the strategic vacation of the 1990s, en route to thestrategic stabilization missions of NATO’s future.Consequently, this book is about NATO’s past, present and futurebecause an understanding of all three is essential to answer the questionat the heart of this study: why NATO endures. It is thus about NATO’splace in a new world in which big picture security is slowly, but inexorably, beginning to re-assert itself. The mantras of the 1990s and thefirst decade of this century that can be found in NATO’s StrategicConcept – terrorism, weapons of mass destruction, state failure, regional

Introduction3conflict, instability et al. – remain dangerous and compelling securitychallenges. However, they are today being replaced by something thatthe Founding Fathers of NATO, Dean Acheson, Ernest Bevin andRobert Schuman, would have well understood back in the 1940s.The age of post 9/11–Iraq big picture politics that the world isentering with the emergence of an Asia fueled by rapid but unstablegrowth, allied to the missed opportunity for Western leadership of the1990s, will lead inexorably to the return of a big NATO. NATO startedits life as a European organization, it is about to embark on a new lifeas the world’s first truly global military security organization.Five Core MessagesThere are five core messages: Strategic counter-terror is mutating: The strategic manhunt of theimmediate post-9/11 period, reminiscent of the Old Wild West, is over.It would be good to capture Osama bin Laden and his cohorts butthey are but bit-part actors. Behind their mask of intolerance andhatred the West has discovered a new Thirty Years War that will takesustained engagement across the political, economic, diplomatic andmilitary spectrum in the total security age of the twenty-first century. New power and new threats are emerging: The threats are developingdriven by the intense change that is taking place in Asia. In many ways,the twenty-first century will be Asia’s age. Like that of Europe before it,Asia’s emergence is unlikely to proceed smoothly. There will be scarumsand alarums until Asian power is properly embedded in the great institutions the West built. Until then a balanced transatlantic relationship willremain the world’s most important insurance mechanism against thepolitical consequences of uncontrolled and extra-institutional change. Security globalization requires visionary security governance: Theconnectivity that is globalization is throwing up a host of global challenges that were once only regional, of “haves” and “have nots,” of theconnected and unconnected. The West must cope with it. NATO must plan for a total security age: Article 5 still matters.Indeed, the political stability and ongoing political development of newAlliance members rests upon the stability that both NATO and the EUafford them. It matters also for Moscow. The Euro-Atlantic area represents the only stable border that Russia has in this dangerous world.Indeed, in a world so electronically independent, as borders becomevirtual disruption could be akin to destruction for societies so dependent on critical infrastructures. NATO needs new partners and newtools.

4Introduction Democratic military power has its limits, but is still vital: So many ofthe threats faced are non-traditional, such as global warming, pandemicsetc. The West must shape old and new institutions to engage such challenges. At the same time, the world is not so different from that of thepast. Credible, legitimate military power and effective organization stillprovides the bedrock of effective security governance.The North Atlantic Treaty Organization: The Enduring AllianceThe North Atlantic Treaty Organization: The Enduring Alliance looksbeyond the splits in the Alliance and goes back to the roots of NATO’spast to paint a big security picture and of NATO’s role therein. Thebook deals with all the fundamentals: history, structure, policy, capability and change, but its natural center of gravity is the strategic visionthat underpins the political cohesion that makes NATO what it is. Thebook therefore places NATO in the context of the change that hastaken place over the years. In other words, this book is about the what,the why, the how, the when and the what-next of NATO.The book is divided into three main sections: Cold War NATO,Strategic Vacation, and New Age NATO.Chapter 1, “A Wo

The North Atlantic Treaty Organizationprovides an incisive analysis of the Atlantic Alliance and clearly outlines all of NATO's key facets to deliver an authoritative account. Detailing the origins, structure, workings and activities of this institution, the volume examines the past of the Alliance to put NATO's future in context