The Quest for Relevant Air Power

ROYAL NETHERLANDS Air Force │ 223
Partly as a reaction to the dissolution of the Soviet Union in late
1991, the Defence Priorities Review was published in 1993. It considered
the armed forces of the states of the former Soviet Union
no longer a major factor in the Netherlands’ security equation. 5
Moreover, the Defence Priorities Review defined the new security
environment in political, social, economic, ecological, and humanitarian
terms instead of a merely military dimension. Countries
in the developing world that were experiencing internal and
external conflicts shifted into the focus of Dutch defence policy. 6
More than half a decade later, the Defence White Paper 2000
clearly recognised the unpredictability of future crises as the biggest
problems that planners are confronted with: “where, when,
with whom, under what circumstances and for what task the units
of our armed forces are deployed in the future is uncertain.” 7 To
meet these future challenges, the Defence White Paper 2000 particularly
called for further improvements in combat readiness and
a significant enhancement of the deployability of the Netherlands
armed forces. 8
The 2003 Prinsjesdag Letter partly reiterated the views of the
1993 Defence Priorities Review and the 2000 Defence White Paper,
stating that the Netherlands need no longer be concerned about a
large-scale attack with conventional weapons on alliance territory.
The situation in the Balkans had stabilised, though it needed constant
attention, and the expansion of NATO and the EU were fostering
security in and around Europe. 9 As a consequence of the
11 September attacks, however, the Prinsjesdag Letter argued that
the world as a whole had not become a safer place. The contemporary
external security situation was linked to the future internal
security of the Netherlands. Therefore, it was considered essential
that Western values be protected and promoted together with the
Netherlands’ allies and partners. 10
Tasks of the Armed Forces. According to this shift in the threat
and risk perception from a potential major onslaught on NATO
alliance territory to asymmetric threats, the missions of the Netherlands
armed forces have changed. Whereas the Defence White Paper
1991 still perceived the Soviet Union as a potential threat, it already
laid the foundation for the future of expeditionary warfare.
Hence, it stressed the importance of mobility, flexibility, rapid deployment,
interoperability, and the ability to carry out operations