ATHENA ’11-Thessaloniki 3 June 2011/Working Group No.2
WG Leader: Ms Fotini Bellou, Assistant Professor of International Relations, University of Macedonia, Thessaloniki
WG Assistant Leader: Lieutenant Commander Nikolaos Metaxas, Tutor in HellenicSupremeJointWarCollege, Thessaloniki
Mr. Minister, Ladies and Gentlemen during our afternoon working group sessions and under the thematic issue “NATO New Strategic Concept and Crisis Management” we opened and addressed a number of issues related to our topic.
The basic argument that was evident from the outset amongst the members of our group was the confirmation that the alliance remains the fundamental instrument of our collective defence according to the Washington Treaty of 1949 and also the satisfaction of the need for its transformation in order to be relevant and effective to respond to the new security challenges in the 21st century.
To a remark made by a member of the group about the prospect of reconsidering the decision making process of the Alliance, there was an almost unanimous response of the fact that “the “consensus Rule” is the fundamental base, our ability to react and the strength of our alliance.
The next topic we touched upon concerned the Area of Operationsand we all agreed that is a matter which goes next to Threats and apart from a self-defense and a collective-defense is an issue which could be addressed only if we could prioritize our risks. We concluded that it is a matter above our level of ambition to cover it in such a limited period of time.
Another theme of our discussion was the “conflict prevention” issue. There was a general agreement amongst participants that the Alliance should put an additional effort in order to promote policies that indeed prevent crises.Cooperation with other International Organizations was considered by our group as a priority number one.
The next step for the Alliance shall be the implementation of its decision to deal with civilian aspect that should complement our missions if and when needed. Finally we agreed that we could also assure the appropriate environment for “others” (such as I.O’s and N.G.O’s) to work in safe and secure environment (SASE). This means working closely with civilians such as: local authorities, humanitarian agencies, U.N. officials etc. We also acknowledged that an enormous effort and strength are needed for such a close coordination and cooperation to be materialized when so many people work in the “same room”.
Finally during the first session we found ourselves to be touching upon the aspects of the international and European financial crisis. We all agreed that despite strong budget limitation, it is important for the Alliance to continue its efforts under the apprise of the “New NATO Strategic Concept and Crisis Management” in order to balance the limitation of our means.
The first issue of the second session revolved around the ability of the Allianceto foster local ownership. A lot of examples were given from NATO-led operations such asin Afghanistan and Kossovo. We made an effort to analyze the PRT (provisional reconstruction teams) project. Our conclusion was that most probably the existence of a common coordination center could prove to be an effective method in order to further improve PRTs efforts.
One of the high ranked issues was that we finally all agreed that “UN mandated operations are an excellent “operational envelope” for the NATO Comprehensive Approach”. We consider the new strategic approach as an effective guide for our alliance in order to improve its functionality.
The need for Public awareness regarding NATO’s new role was an issue that was raised but time limitations did not allow an elaboration on the most proper actions towards this direction. For that we could propose such a topic to be included in the agenda of a next conference. However, it is our understanding that public diplomacy is an important tool in the pursuit of our endeavours.
Last but not least I would like to thank the organizers for the opportunity to work with peers and experts and my colleagues for the fruitful dialogue.