Global Security: in Search of a New Vision - Center for Strategic ...

The Proliferation of WMDs—What Are the Real Threats and How Should We Respond 117
polit i cal sup port is also pro vided by the WMD Cen ter, which was estab lished in 2000 and is one of the
larger depart ments within my divi sion.
We should also not for get an impor tant con tri bu tion by NATO to the fight against ter ror ism— Oper -
a tion Active Endeavor, the Alli ance’s mar i time oper a tion in the Med i ter ra nean. We are cur rently review -
ing the deploy ment of CBRN/WMD detec tion capa bil i ties onboard ves sels par tic i pat ing in this
oper a tion, which will improve NATO’s mar i time inter dic tion capa bil ity. We also watch with inter est the
related devel op ments within the United Nations Law of the Sea’s WMD Inter dic tion–related pro to cols.
Although I am not aim ing to make a com plete account of NATO’s activ i ties, I can not omit our con tri -
bu tion to edu ca tion and train ing in this field. We recently estab lished a Cen ter of Excel lence in the Czech
Repub lic that is espe cially devoted to the issues of CBRN defense. Inter ested national author i ties may
directly con tact this cen ter, which is sit u ated in Vyškov. In addi tion, the NATO School in
Oberammergau, Ger many, and the NATO Defense Col lege in Rome pro vide reg u lar train ing on WMD
issues and include part ner nations in many of their courses.
CONCLUDING REMARKS
The main mes sage I want to pass on today is that we need to meet the pro lif er a tion threat with a joint
and firm response from the entire inter na tional com mu nity. Inter na tional orga ni za tions, backed by the
uncon di tional sup port of all our coun tries, must con tinue to work together, pos si bly even more closely in
the future, to attain our pri mary goal: pre vent ing pro lif er a tion from hap pen ing or revers ing it as early,
rap idly, and effectively as possible.