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

Chapter 29
Working with International Organizations and NGOs
Lieutenant General James Soligan 1
We have had a lot of dis cus sions over the last two or three days about what needs to be done to
resolve cri ses but I will focus most of my dis cus sion on what is actu ally hap pen ing in NATO
and the prog ress we are mak ing. Then I will put a bit of a yard stick out there for some of the
next steps that we hope to be able to accom plish.
THE NEED FOR COOPERATION AND COORDINATION
When I dis cuss a com pre hen sive approach, I am really focus ing on the close coop er a tion and coor di -
na tion that is needed among all the ele ments of the inter na tional response. That includes NATO mil i tary
and NATO non-mil i tary personnel who will oper ate the mil i tary and gov ern ment agency pieces, as well
as NATO and inter na tional orga ni za tions and NGOs. My focus will be on NATO and gov ern ment
agen cies and NATO and inter na tional orga ni za tions and NGOs, although I will also men tion the way
ahead, par tic u larly at the Brussels and national lev els, where change is needed in order to more eas ily plug
into some of the non-NATO mil i tary con tri bu tions. I will look at how we are devel op ing, imple ment ing,
and institutionalizing consultation, coordination, and planning between NATO and government agencies
and between NATO and the IO/NGO com mu nity, in par tic u lar at the inde pend ent deci sion-mak -
ing respon si bil i ties of each. I believe it is really impor tant to fig ure out how we can insti tu tion al ize the
changes nec es sary to have separate but mutually supportive elements of this contribution as we move
forward.
Because of the polit i cal dif fi cul ties of reach ing con sen sus in Brussels, the guid ance has been to start
with a bot tom-up approach, then go to the field and see what you can accom plish on the com pre hen sive
approach, and then let that trickle up—the oppo site of a trickle-down strat egy. It is a trickle-up strat egy
of going out and accom plish ing things on the field.
1
Lieutenant General James Soligan is Deputy Chief of Staff for Transformation, Allied Command Transformation.