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

Transforming NATO to Meet the New Global Challenges 35
Three years ago, in 2005, my pre de ces sor as Defence Sec re tary, John Reid, spoke at this Work shop.
Then, he said that “If NATO is to prove its con tin ued rel e vance on the global stage, it must seize the pro -
cess of Trans for ma tion with both hands.” I think that, with Afghan i stan, with Kosovo, with inter na tional
secu rity sec tor reform, NATO is prov ing its con tin ued rel e vance. But now we need to con sol i date those
gains, and look long and hard at where reform is needed most urgently.
I think we can all agree that reform should take us towards three clear objec tives for NATO:
Well-planned and well-man aged oper a tions;
An abil ity to help iden tify and deliver the capa bil i ties needed to sup port both cur rent and future
operations; and
A frame work of part ner ships that will allow us to work with oth ers who share our inter ests and can
con trib ute to them includ ing as part of a more com pre hen sive approach.
Well-Planned and Well-Man aged Operations
Oper a tions are cen tral to NATO’s pur pose. And Afghan i stan is our most impor tant oper a tion.
Through this NATO oper a tion, we are rein forc ing our col lec tive secu rity at home, and giv ing Afghan i -
stan the chance to build a secure and hope ful future for its peo ple. But the require ments for suc cess in
Afghan i stan also match very closely NATO’s require ments for change in its approach to deliv er ing col -
lec tive defence and secu rity more gen er ally. Oper a tions there are the main driver for trans for ma tion.
Afghan i stan is forc ing us all to change the way we approach com plex 21 st Cen tury threats with 21 st Cen -
tury means.
In the Brit ish Gov ern ment, we have thought hard about our approach. Expe ri ence in Afghan i stan has
been hugely sig nif i cant as a motor for many changes we have sought to make both in defence and in our
wider deter mi na tion to help inter na tional organi sa tions deliver better. We are not alone. Can ada, also in
light of its expe ri ence in Afghan i stan, has car ried out a far-reach ing anal y sis of its defence pos ture and
pri or i ties, includ ing through the Manley Com mis sion. An anal y sis which has rein forced Can ada’s role as a
stal wart and highly capa ble NATO Ally. The Neth er lands and Den mark, too, have exam ined thor oughly
their own trans for ma tion needs through their expe ri ence in Afghan i stan, and so equipped them selves to
deal with the com plex chal lenges that we must now deal with in this new cen tury.
I hope all Allies will grasp the need to use this oper a tion in their own trans for ma tion. And NATO
must do so too.
Abil ity to Help Iden tify and Deliver the Required Capa bil i ties
Now, it is true that, in NATO, we have come a long way in recog nis ing the impor tance of expe di tion -
ary capa bil i ties in deal ing with the broad range of threats the Alli ance is likely to face. This is par tic u larly
true since the endorse ment of the Com pre hen sive Polit i cal Guid ance at the 2006 Riga Sum mit. We have
devel oped the NATO Response Force as a means of deploy ing such capa bil i ties.
But, there remains far too big a mis match between our aspi ra tions and what we actu ally deliver. The
NATO Response Force is not get ting the forces or capa bil i ties it needs in order to carry out the full range
of mis sions for which it was designed. As a con se quence, there are con cerns as to its lon ger term via bil ity.
We are lack ing suf fi cient capa bil i ties in key areas, such as stra te gic and intra-thea tre lift. Capa bil i ties which
affect our abil ity to pros e cute cur rent and future oper a tions in the way we might want. And that short fall
puts added strain on the forces and capa bil i ties which are avail able.
As a mea sure of how we are doing to improve this sit u a tion, NATO has devel oped tar gets, includ ing
that 40% of land forces should be deploy able. Eleven of the 26 Allies are still not reach ing this tar get. If