NATO's New Strategic Concept and Canada
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NATO’S NEW STRATEGIC CONCEPT AND CANADA: MAINTAINING THE STATUS QUO Lieutenant-Colonel Jamie Speiser-Blanchet JCSP 37 PCEMI 37 Master of Defence Studies Maîtrise en études de la défense Disclaimer Avertissement Opinions expressed remain those of the author and do Les opinons exprimées n’engagent que leurs auteurs et not represent Department of National Defence or ne reflètent aucunement des politiques du Ministère de Canadian Forces policy. This paper may not be used la Défense nationale ou des Forces canadiennes. Ce without written permission. papier ne peut être reproduit sans autorisation écrite. © Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada, as represented by the © Sa Majesté la Reine du Chef du Canada, représentée par le Minister of National Defence, 2011. ministre de la Défense nationale, 2011. ii iii CANADIAN FORCES COLLEGE - COLLÈGE DES FORCES CANADIENNES JCSP 37 - PCEMI 37 NATO’S NEW STRATEGIC CONCEPT AND CANADA: MAINTAINING THE STATUS QUO By/par LCol/lcol Jamie Speiser-Blanchet This paper was written by a student La présente étude a été rédigée par un attending the Canadian Forces College in stagiaire du Collège des Forces fulfilment of one of the requirements of the canadiennes pour satisfaire à l'une des course of studies. The paper is a scholastic exigences du cours. L'étude est un document, and thus contains facts and document qui se rapporte au cours et opinions, which the author alone contient donc des faits et des opinions que considered appropriate and correct for the seul l'auteur considère appropriés et subject. It does not necessarily reflect the convenables au sujet. Elle ne reflète pas policy or the opinion of any agency, nécessairement la politique ou l'opinion including the Government of Canada and d'un organisme quelconque, y compris le the Canadian Department of National gouvernement du Canada et le ministère de Defence. This paper may not be released, la Défense nationale du Canada. Il est quoted or copied, except with the express défendu de diffuser, de citer ou de permission of the Canadian Department of reproduire cette étude sans la permission National Defence. expresse du ministère de la Défense nationale. Word Count: 19,585 Compte de mots : 19,585 ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The author wishes to gratefully acknowledge the helpful advice and feedback kindly provided by Major Alex Haynes and the generous research assistance of Lieutenant- Colonel Brock Heilman. Most importantly, the author would like to thank Major Janin Blanchet, without whom this project would not have been possible. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................................ ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................... iii ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................ v INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................. 1 CHAPTER 1 - HISTORICAL OVERVIEW ...................................................................... 7 ORIGINS OF NATO ...................................................................................................... 7 CANADA AND THE WASHINGTON TREATY ........................................................ 9 THE COLD WAR YEARS .......................................................................................... 12 Collective Defence .................................................................................................... 12 Burdensharing and Tensions in the Alliance ............................................................ 13 CHAPTER 2 - NATO’S ADAPTATION TO THE CHANGING GLOBAL SECURITY ENVIRONMENT ............................................................................................................. 17 NATO POST-COLD WAR TRANSFORMATION .................................................... 20 The Shift in Focus from Military to Political Alliance ............................................. 20 Partnerships and Expansion ...................................................................................... 22 The 1990’s Out-of-Area Debate and Human Security ............................................. 23 GLOBALIZATION AND THE IMPACT ON SECURITY ........................................ 28 SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 AND NATO ........................................................................... 30 NATO TRANSFORMATION AFTER 9/11 ................................................................ 34 2002 Prague Summit ................................................................................................. 34 Istanbul Cooperation Initiative ................................................................................. 34 Riga, Bucharest and Strasbourg/Kehl Summit Initiatives ........................................ 35 NATO Enlargement .................................................................................................. 38 The NATO-Russia Relationship ............................................................................... 41 NATO’s Partners and the Global Role of NATO ..................................................... 43 CHAPTER 3 - CANADA’S SECURITY INTERESTS AND CHALLENGES .............. 46 MULTILATERALISM, CANADIAN VALUES AND INTERESTS ......................... 49 CANADA’S RELATIONSHIP WITH THE UNITED STATES ................................ 55 IMPLEMENTATION OF CANADA’S SECURITY POLICY ................................... 58 Defence Spending ......................................................................................................... 59 The ISAF Mission in Afghanistan ................................................................................ 64 CHAPTER 4 - THE 2010 NATO STRATEGIC CONCEPT ........................................... 67 GROUP OF EXPERTS REPORT ................................................................................ 70 Core Tasks ................................................................................................................ 70 NATO’s Partnerships ................................................................................................ 71 Decision-making and Organizational Reform .......................................................... 72 iv CDAI-CDFAI REPORT – A CANADIAN PERSPECTIVE ....................................... 73 The Atlantic Community .......................................................................................... 73 NATO’s Partnerships ................................................................................................ 74 Decision-making and Organizational Reform .......................................................... 75 Burdensharing ........................................................................................................... 76 THE 2010 STRATEGIC CONCEPT............................................................................ 77 Core Tasks ................................................................................................................ 77 NATO’s Partnerships ................................................................................................ 77 Burdensharing and Organizational Reform .............................................................. 79 Canada and the new Strategic Concept ..................................................................... 81 CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................. 84 BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................................. 87 v ABSTRACT NATO approved its new Strategic Concept at the 2010 Summit in Lisbon, Portugal on 19 November 2010. In so doing, the Alliance defined its approach to security and provided future guidance for political and military grand strategy. The aim of this paper is to understand the importance of NATO for Canadian foreign policy; more specifically, to examine the relevance of the 2010 Strategic Concept as it relates to Canada. It will be shown that Canada’s interests are best served by a globally oriented NATO which focuses on maintaining internationalist policies in the areas of partnerships and operational engagements beyond Alliance territory in pursuit of security and stability. While NATO is not necessarily a global alliance, it is engaged globally with nations that share common interests and values as it seeks to enhance stability abroad to the benefit of democratic societies around the world. The new Strategic Concept supports the premise of strengthening Alliance relationships beyond its borders and of countering threats arising from instability wherever it may rise. Canada can only benefit from such policy, as long as the government remains willing to contribute to these security efforts. The globalization of NATO, namely through more robust partnerships, is conducive to a sound and feasible Canadian security policy clearly aligned with Canadian interests and values. For Canada, this does not represent a shift in foreign and security policy but primarily maintenance of the status quo. 1 INTRODUCTION Canada’s membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has formed a significant component of the nation’s security policy and engagements since the Alliance was formed in 1949. As a founding member of NATO, Canada was influential in its inception after the Second World War, particularly