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11. NATO and the (Re-)Constitution of Roles: "Self", "We" and "Other"?

Author:
Trine Flockhart
Publication Date:
03-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
The popular perception of the role of NATO was famously defined by NATO's first Secretary General, Lord Ismay, as “keeping the Russians out, the Americans in and the Germans down”. NATO's role is still essentially to keep its members safe from threats, to ensure the cohesion of the transatlantic relationship, and to transform relations between former foes. However, behind this alluringly simple description of NATO, lie complex “self”, “we” and “other” definitions and perceptions of roles and relevant functional tasks. This paper seeks to unravel some of the complex processes of constituting and re-constituting NATO's roles. By utilizing a combination of role theory and social identity theory the paper traces how NATO has been engaged in complex and simultaneous processes of having a role set defined for it, whilst also being deeply involved in constructing its own identity and the identity of its member states, prospective member states and partners.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, NATO, International Cooperation, and International Organization
Political Geography:
United States and Europe

12. Disaggregating the Pakistani Taliban: Does the good, the bad and the ugly Taliban distinction represent a failed policy?

Author:
Mona Kanwal Sheik
Publication Date:
09-2009
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
Until now debates on initiating dialogue with the Taliban have mainly focused on the Afghan Taliban, whereas many of the difficulties that U.S. and NATO forces are facing stem from the militant spillover from Pakistan. This brief outlines why it is important to broaden the debate through a disaggregation of the major factions of the Pakistani Taliban and discusses in what sense a “good, bad and ugly Taliban” distinction can be a viable policy option.
Topic:
NATO
Political Geography:
Pakistan, United States, Europe, and Taliban

13. Sarkozysm: New European and foreign policy into old French bottles?

Author:
Ulla Holm
Publication Date:
12-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
The Gaullist French president Nicolas Sarkozy has announced that France has to break with French past policies. The break refers to the launch of a new French European policy, re-enter in NATO's military integrated structure, up-grading of human rights in international politics and a new World Order. However, the analysis demonstrates that Sarkozy does not break with the past. Sarkozy's activism, his permanent speed and change of issue hide the fact that he continues Charles de Gaulle's and late president Francois Mitterrand's European and foreign policy which was guided by the concept of a 'European Europe', a multipolar world, France being allied to the US but not aligned and France as a politically visible actor in Europe and in international politics. The means to accomplish French European and foreign policy visions changes according to the specific European and international situation. The re-enter in NATO's Military integrated structure is such a change, but Sarkozy does not break with the past concept of not being automatically aligned with the US. Sarkozysm exists, but as we argue in this working paper Sarkozysm is an amalgam of past policies whose purpose is to satisfy all French societal layers and to strike a balance between Gaullism and Mitterrandism.
Topic:
Foreign Policy and NATO
Political Geography:
United States, Europe, and France

14. NATO's Comprehensive Approach to Crisis Response Operations: A Work in Slow Progress

Author:
Peter Viggo Jakobsen
Publication Date:
11-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
The aims of this report are to analyse the evolution of the Alliance's Comprehensive Approach (CA) to date, to identify the principal obstacles standing in the way of further progress and to suggest how they can be overcome or circumvented. CA is based on the premise that operations aimed at creating a sustainable peace must employ the relevant civilian and military instruments in a coordinated and concerted manner in order to succeed. Ideally, the civilian and military actors involved in such operations should agree on the political end-state and engage in the joint planning, execution and evaluation of their operational activities in order to achieve it. Since the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) does not have the civilian capacities that a fully-fledged CA requires, the Alliance is faced with a dual challenge as it seeks to develop its contribution to CA. It must get its own house in order by creating a common understanding of its role in CA, as well as the mindset, doctrine and procedures that will enable it to employ its own resources in accordance with CA requirements for success. In addition, it must also develop an understanding of and cooperative relationships with the organizations and local actors it is likely to cooperate with in the field. NATO must, in short, conduct its own activities in accordance with CA requirements, and at the same time be both willing and able to plug and play with other actors who can bring to the table the capacities that are required to meet the political objectives of a given operation.
Topic:
Security and NATO

15. PRTs in Afghanistan: Successful but not Sufficient

Author:
Peter Viggo Jakobsen
Publication Date:
04-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
The report analyses the contributions made by the provincial reconstruction teams (PRTs) on the ground in Afghanistan. It concludes that the PRTs are successful because they have helped to extend the authority of the Afghan government beyond Kabul, facilitated reconstruction and dampened violence. At the same time, it is equally clear that they cannot address the underlying causes of insecurity in Afghanistan. The PRTs only make sense as part of an overall strategy in which they serve to buy time while other instruments are employed to tackle the military threat posed by the Taliban and Al Qaida; the infighting between the warlords; the increased lawlessness and banditry; and the booming opium poppy cultivation and the drug trade. A comprehensive strategy that couples the deployment of more PRTs by NATO with determined action against these causes of instability is therefore required. Future PRTs should be based on the UK PRT model, which is generally considered the most successful. To heighten its profile in Afghanistan, Denmark should consider establishing a PRT of its own or contributing to the establishment of a joint Nordic PRT.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, NATO, and Development
Political Geography:
Afghanistan, United Kingdom, Middle East, and Denmark

16. From Diplomatic Talking Shop to Powerful Partnership?

Author:
Halle Malmvig
Publication Date:
05-2004
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
NATO plans to play a greater role in the Middle East. At the upcoming summit in Istanbul, the Alliance is expected to boost its neglected cooperation programme with seven states in the Middle East - the so-called Mediterranean Dialogue. The Dialogue is to be turned into a Partnership programme modelled on the Partnership for Peace (PfP) experience. This brief argues that NATO only can play a limited role in the efforts to reform and strengthen relations with Middle Eastern states. NATO does not have the political and economic tools necessary for tackling the root causes of the security problems in the Middle East, and there is a real danger that increased cooperation on terrorism and defence reform may undermine the overall goal of democratic and genuine change in the region.
Topic:
International Relations, NATO, and Diplomacy
Political Geography:
Middle East

17. Multinational Solutions versus Intra-Alliance Specialization

Author:
Rachel Lutz Ellehuus
Publication Date:
05-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
This analysis focuses on possible multinational solutions aimed at enhancing the effectiveness and cost efficiency of multinational operations.All things being equal, multinational forces are less effective than purely national forces of a similar size. However, multinational operations have the advantage of potential greater strength in numbers and additional capabilities when several states cooperate.
Topic:
Security, NATO, Human Rights, and International Organization

18. Rethinking The Nature of Security: The U.S. Northern Europe Initiative

Author:
Edward Rhodes
Publication Date:
06-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
That U.S. policy toward the Baltic region should merit discussion is in itself an indicator of how much has changed in the last decade. That U.S. policy toward the Baltic should have come to embody an intellectual revolution is nothing less than extraordinary. Nonetheless, this is in fact the case.
Topic:
Security and NATO
Political Geography:
United States and Europe

19. Competing or Complementary Policies? Understanding the Relationship between the NEI and NDI

Author:
Christopher S. Browning
Publication Date:
06-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
In recent years the relationship between the European Union and the United States has become increasingly contentious. The principal European critique laments what many Europeans see as America's blatant disregard of global norms and what Chris Patten, the EU's External Affairs Commissioner, has labelled America's "neuralgic hostility to any external authority over its own affairs". In its rejection of the Kyoto Protocol and the establishment of an International Criminal Court, its reluctance to pay its dues to the United Nations, and its eagerness to scrap the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, Europeans often see America as lurching towards a unilateralist stance based on America's military preponderance, whilst multilateral organisations, legal conventions and international norms are pushed aside.
Topic:
Security, NATO, and Political Economy
Political Geography:
United States and Europe

20. The Discourses of St. Petersburg and the Shaping of a Wider Europe: Territory, Space and Post-Sovereign Politics

Author:
Viatcheslav Morozov
Publication Date:
03-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
St. Petersburg enjoys the image of being the most European of Russia's cities. The stories about the past and the present of Russia's northern capital resonate with such concepts as 'the new Hansa', the Baltic Rim or the Northern Dimension of the EU. However, the image of St. Petersburg – the capital of imperial Russia – might also be conducive to processes preserving or (re)creating dividing lines in the Baltic Sea region and in Europe as a whole. The present-day St. Petersburg certainly finds itself in search of new discursive departures that could show the way out of the present situation, which is generally regarded as unsatisfactory. This search is developing along various paths, some of which remain embedded in 'traditional' discourses, whilst others dare to step into the unknown.
Topic:
Security, Defense Policy, and NATO
Political Geography:
Europe