NORTH ATLANTIC TREATY ORGANIZATION MUNUC XXIX Topic A: The Projection of Power in Eastern Europe Topic B: The Militarization of Outer Space EXECUTIVE LETTER Delegates, It is our pleasure to welcome you to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and MUNUC XVIII. We are Mitchell Dennis and Rachel Zucker, and we will be serving as your committee chairs. We are looking forward to a wonderful weekend with all of you. To introduce ourselves, we are both third years in the college. I (Mitchell) study Global Studies and Romance Languages and Literatures and Rachel studies Fundamentals and Economics. Rachel and I met as first years in the International Olympic Committee at MUNUC. While we are close friends, Rachel and I could not be more different. Rachel is from Los Angles and spent a year in high school abroad, while I am from Michigan and have spent most of my life in the Midwest. However, we are united by our shared experiences, our love for Interstellar, Hans Zimmer and all things brunch related. In addition to MUNUC, Rachel is involved in Money Think and Women in Law. Besides MUNUC activities, I work at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and serve in UChicago’s Amnesty International as Secretary. The Trans-Atlantic alliance, which is represented by NATO, plays a fundamental role in post-World War II security situation. The establishment of NATO, from an American perspective, was a ground shattering event, represent America’s first foreign commitment in its history. For much of Western Europe, NATO represented the best chance for security against the Soviet Union and integration to prevent future wars. As a member of NATO, you have a difficult and pressing task ahead of you. You must confront deep regional disparities in economics and military capability, while working to prevent the outbreak of a conflict with Russia. Through compromise, negotiation, and hard work, these divisions can be solved. If you cannot bridge this divide, then any solution to our problems will be difficult to pass and even harder to effectively implement, leaving NATO open to exploitation about foreign powers who wish to manipulate the western world into a weak strategic position. While preparing for MUNUC, please feel free to contact myself or Rachael Zucker, your co-chair, with any questions you might have. I would love to answer any questions you have about the committee, MUNUC, or the University of Chicago. I am very excited to meet all of you this February. Sincerely, Mitchell Dennis and Rachel Zucker 2 NORTH ATLANTIC TREATY ORGANIZATION MUNUC XXIX HISTORY OF THE COMMITTEE The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was founded by the North Atlantic Treaty, signed April th4 , 1949 in Washington DC.1 NATO is headquartered in Brussels, Belgium and it is led by a Secretary General, who coordinates with an integrated military NATO staff.2 3 The current Secretary General is Jens Stoltenberg, from Norway.4 The Secretary General and the agenda for NATO are organized by permanent representatives appointed by each member state, in addition, annual Head of State meetings are held to discuss pressing issues.5 NATO also includes a military committee, which includes military representatives from each of the member countries.6 The original signatories, the United States, France, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Denmark, Portugal, Norway, Iceland, Canada, Italy, Luxembourg, and Belgium created the alliance not only to deter the Soviet Union from attack, but also to prevent militant nationalism from causing another major conflict in Europe and to promote integration among European powers.7 The events that precipitated NATO and motivated Western Europe and North America to unite was the communist backed coup against the democratically elected Czechoslovak government in 1948 and the decision by the Soviet Union to blockade shipments of goods to West Berlin, which was located into the Soviet zone of control in the post-World War II division of Germany.8 Throughout the Cold War, NATO expanded several times adding Post World War II Division of Germany Turkey and Greece in 1952, West Germany in 1955, http://slideplayer.com/slide/3926273/ and Spain in 1982.9 Along these three axes, (Soviet deterrence, prevention of future European conflicts, and European integration) NATO has been largely successful. NATO outlasted the Soviet Union, successfully deterring direct attacks 1 “The North Atlantic Treaty.” North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Last Updated March 21, 2016. http://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/official_ texts_17120.htm. 2 “NATO Headquarters.” North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Last Updated September 01, 2015. http://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/topics_49284. htm. 3 “Who’s who?” North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Last Updated July 27, 2016. http://www.nato.int/cps/en/natolive/who_is_who.htm. 4 “Jens Stoltenberg, NATO Secretary General 2014.” North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Last Updated March 14, 2016. http://www.nato.int/cps/en/ natohq/who_is_who_49999.htm. 5 Who’s who?” North Atlantic Treaty Organization. http://www.nato.int/cps/en/natolive/who_is_who.htm. 6 Ibid. 7 “A short history of NATO.” North Atlantic Treaty Organization. N.d. http://www.nato.int/history/nato-history.html. 8 Ibid. 9 “What is NATO?” North Atlantic Treaty Organization.” N.d. http://www.nato.int/nato-welcome/index.html. 3 NORTH ATLANTIC TREATY ORGANIZATION MUNUC XXIX and has promoted integration across Europe. However, NATO has struggled to prevent militant nationalism in some areas of Eastern Europe, in particular this struggle was evident during the break-up of Yugoslavia.10 With the end of the Cold War in the early-1990s, many people felt that NATO no longer had a purpose, however, NATO found 3 purposes over the following 20 years. First, NATO continued to promote European integration, welcoming in new members from across Eastern Europe. NATO welcomed Poland, the Czech Republic, and Hungary in 1999; Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Romania and Bulgaria in 2004; and Croatia and Albania in 2009.11 Second, after the 2001 attacks on the United States, NATO became involved in the Global War on Terror, specifically intervening in Afghanistan.12 Finally, more recently in the wake of the annexation of Crimea, NATO has been reinvigorated to oppose Russian influence throughout Eastern Europe. On this final issue, NATO must play a fundamentally role in ensuring the territorial integrity of its member states in the face of Russian opposition. In the present day, NATO is a strong alliance that has protected its members for nearly 70 years. While NATO still works to protect its members from outside attacks, using a variety of methods such as deterrence and diplomacy, NATO must continue to innovate if it is to remain relevant into the coming decades. 10 “Timeline: break-up of Yugoslavia.” British Broadcasting Corporation. Last Updated May 22, 2006. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4997380.stm. 11 “What is NATO?” North Atlantic Treaty Organization.” http://www.nato.int/nato-welcome/index.html. 12 Gordon, Philip. “NATO and the War on Terrorism: A Changing Alliance.” Brookings Institution. June 01, 2002. https://www.brookings.edu/articles/ nato-and-the-war-on-terrorism-a-changing-alliance/. 4 NORTH ATLANTIC TREATY ORGANIZATION MUNUC XXIX TOPIC A: THE PROJECTION OF POWER IN EASTERN EUROPE Statement of the Problem Introduction One of the original goals of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was to protect Western European states from the domination of the Soviet Union and attacks from its Eastern European satellite states.13 While the Soviet Union has disappeared into the depths of history, the threat from its successor state, the Russian Federation, is at an all-time high. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the democratization of Eastern Europe in the 1990s, NATO admitted new members, all in Eastern Europe, expanding the borders of the alliance closer and closer to Russia. This expansion has placed NATO and its more recently admitted member nations at greater risk of a conflict with Russia. NATO expansion, while helping to successfully integrate new members into the ‘European Family’, has diluted NATO’s projection power, weakened the cohesion of its member states and, most importantly, created new challenges NATO is ill-equipped to handle. NATO must work to ensure the safety of its eastern members, such as the Baltic States and Poland, while ensuring that it minimizes the risk of conflict with Russia and other powerful nations. A Feeling of Vulnerability Eastern Europe nations originally sought NATO membership to ensure that they could leave Russia’s sphere of influence and firmly embed themselves into the global economy and the European world. While many of these new NATO members have successfully left Russia’s direct influence, feelings of insecurity and vulnerability remain amongst these members. These fears were present even after Poland, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia gained NATO membership, but in the aftermath of the Georgia-Russian War and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, these nations are more concerned than ever. Russia’s President, Vladimir Putin, promised to protect all ethnic 13 Masters, Jonathan. “The North Atlantic Treat Organization (NATO).” The Council on Foreign Relations. Updated February 17, 2016. Accessed May 08 2016. http://www.cfr.org/nato/north-atlantic-treaty-organization-nato/p28287. 5 NORTH ATLANTIC TREATY ORGANIZATION MUNUC XXIX Russians, no matter where they live.14 His conflicts in Georgia and the Ukraine must be understood through this lens. Due to this, Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia feel especially vulnerable given that they all share a border with Russia. The Baltic States, Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia, are viewed as most at risk. Estonia and Latvia have large ethnically Russian populations in several of their Eastern regions, while Lithuania sits between Russia and Kaliningrad, a Russian enclave on the Baltic Sea.15 The leaders of the Baltic States fear that Russia could instigate a conflict on the pretense of protecting Russian speaking minorities or uniting Kaliningrad with Russia proper.