Ten points for a NATO Strategic Concept
Munich, 08.02.2009.
Defence Minister Dr. Franz Josef Jung presented his ideas for a new NATO Strategic Concept at the Munich Security Conference on 8 February.
Ideas for a Nato Strategic Concept (Source: Bundeswehr/Mörk)Größere Abbildung anzeigen
NATO must adapt itself more to the security demands of the 21st century. A new Strategic Concept is therefore expected of the NATO summit to be held in Strasbourg and Baden-Baden in April. Defence Minister Dr. Jung set out ten points for such a concept. For, as the Minister said in Munich:"Germany places great importance on the development of a new Strategic Concept, because the state of the Alliance could be better"
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- The new Strategic Concept must enable members to reach fresh consensus on the role, functions and tasks of the Alliance.
- It is more a matter of renewing the tried and tested concept rather than developing a completely new one. Nearly all the key points of the 1999 Concept are still correct. Security, consultation, deterrence and defence as well as crisis management and partnership have lost none of their relevance.
- The Alliance must strike the correct balance between collective defence as defined in Article 5 and crisis management and the transfer of stability.
- For deterrence the necessary wide spectrum of capabilities must be retained.
- We need new initiatives on arms control, disarmament and non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. And we need a further significant reduction in the considerable stockpiles of warheads that still exist worldwide.
- The Alliance upholds its open-door policy whilst retaining the common basic values. Partnership relations must be even more effectively shaped.
- We need Russia as a true strategic partner, as enshrined in the NATO-Russia Founding Act a good ten years ago. We must develop this partnership and our mutual trust.
- The comprehensive approach, our concept of networked security, must become a core element of the new Strategic Concept.
- We must improve our capabilities. We need flexible, deployable and sustainable forces across the entire spectrum. And:
- The defence planning processes in NATO and the EU must be further harmonized and also synchronized.
