The Quest for Relevant Air Power

ROYAL NETHERLANDS Air Force │ 233
Corps. As for naval forces, the Dutch and Belgian navies established
a combined operational staff in 1995. 52
A Dutch scholar concluded in the mid-1990s that shifts in
Dutch defence policy were the consequence of not only shrinking
resources for the armed forces but also international circumstances.
Dutch defence planners realised that American commitment
to NATO and Europe would paradoxically be put at risk if
European NATO allies refused to integrate their efforts and to
provide a more robust contribution to the transatlantic defence
burden. 53 Against the backdrop of transatlantic and European tensions
over the Iraq crisis in 2003, the Prinsjesdag Letter particularly
underlined that NATO continued to be the most important
pillar of Dutch defence policy, as it epitomised the alliance with
the United States. Hence, the ESDP was regarded as complementing
NATO. 54
Since larger unilateral military expeditions are inconceivable
for the Netherlands, Dutch military units are to operate closely
with allied armed forces under the auspices of international organisations
or ad hoc coalitions. Already in the Defence White Paper
1991, it was stated that the Netherlands would only act in conjunction
with other countries and that the contribution of the
Netherlands would therefore always be of a complementary kind. 55
In alliance with others, preferably the United States, Dutch politicians
and militaries have been willing and capable of exercising
violence and of using air power as a coercive tool. 56
Due to the Netherlands’ strong commitment to NATO and European
integration, a premium is put upon interoperability. The
Defence White Paper 2000 emphasises the ability of the armed
forces to participate in an international context. As such, the
Netherlands armed forces are considered as a system of modules,
each of which can operate in groups led by NATO, the UN, the
EU, or an ad hoc coalition. 57 The capability of easily fitting into
multinational forces is considered to provide the Netherlands
armed forces with the required flexibility for multinational missions.
The Netherlands government is firm in its belief that without
far-reaching international cooperation, smaller countries
would be unable to maintain relevant and affordable armed forces
over the long term. 58 Hence, the pooling of national resources
with other countries has been seen as an attractive way of dealing