PRESS

These limitations in deployable numbers are, theoretically,
mitigated by the fact that national doctrines
in most cases assess the legitimacy of any potential
operation according to the number of democratic allies
that would be involved. Thus, the general trend
is in favor of coalition-based operations, either with
a preferred partner (as in the case of the future Franco-British
Combined Joint Expeditionary Force, born
from the November 2010 Lancaster House Treaties)
or by participating in an EU- or NATO-sanctioned
operation.
Further efforts at mitigating the impact of shrinking
force sizes include the introduction of unmanned
robotic systems to replace personnel in certain functions—for
example, the growing use of unmanned aerial
vehicles (UAVs) and the deployment of robots for
anti-improvised explosive device (IED) operations—
and the greater reliance on smaller, albeit expensive,
special forces to carry out specified missions. 19 In addition,
reserve troops in some countries are growing
in strength. Here, the British and Canadian models
seem to be better established than in most other member
states. However, the use of reserve troops is still
subject to two major constraints: the actual availability
of reservists and the quality of their training. 20
But the fact remains that the nature of the conflicts
experienced by NATO members since the end
of the Cold War inescapably indicates that troops
are still needed on the ground—and sometimes in
considerable numbers if the overall mission is to be
accomplished.
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