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81. 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

82. NATO's Final Frontier

Author:
Charles A. Kupchan
Publication Date:
05-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Foreign Affairs
Institution:
Council on Foreign Relations
Abstract:
At NATO's 2010 summit, planned for November, the alliance's members intend to adopt a new "strategic concept" to guide its evolution. NATO's relationship with Russia is at the top of the agenda. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the United States and its NATO allies have constructed a post-Cold War order that effectively shuts Russia out. Although NATO and the European Union have embraced the countries of central and eastern Europe, they have treated Russia as an outsider, excluding it from the main institutions of the Euro-Atlantic community. Russia's isolation is in part a product of its own making. The country's stalled democratic transition and occasional bouts of foreign policy excess warrant NATO's continued role as a hedge against the reemergence of an expansionist Russia. Nonetheless, the West is making a historic mistake in treating Russia as a strategic pariah. As made clear by the settlements after the Napoleonic Wars and World War II -- in contrast to the one that followed World War I -- including former adversaries in a postwar order is critical to the consolidation of great-power peace. Anchoring Russia in an enlarged Euro-Atlantic order, therefore, should be an urgent priority for NATO today. Russia has been disgruntled with the expansion of NATO ever since the alliance began courting new members from the former Soviet bloc in the early 1990s. However, Russia's economic and military decline and the West's primacy encouraged NATO members to discount the potential consequences of Russian discontent. "As American capabilities surged and Russian capabilities waned," the political scientists Daniel Deudney and G. John Ikenberry have observed, "Washington policymakers increasingly acted as though Russia no longer mattered and the United States could do whatever it wanted." The strategic landscape has since changed dramatically, however, and the costs of excluding Russia from the Euro-Atlantic order have risen substantially. The Kremlin's recentralization of power and Russia's economic rebound thanks to higher energy prices have brought the country back to life. Russia now has the confidence and the capability to push back against NATO -- just as the West urgently needs Moscow's cooperation on a host of issues, including the containment of Iran's nuclear ambitions, arms control and nonproliferation, the stabilization of Afghanistan, counterterrorism, and energy security.
Topic:
NATO and Cold War
Political Geography:
Russia, United States, and Europe

83. Overpowered?

Author:
Michael E. Mandelbaum
Publication Date:
05-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Foreign Affairs
Institution:
Council on Foreign Relations
Abstract:
No abstract is available.
Topic:
International Relations, Foreign Policy, and NATO
Political Geography:
United States and America

84. Russia's Pragmatic Reimperialization

Author:
Janusz Bugajski
Publication Date:
01-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The Caucasian Review of International Affairs
Institution:
The Caucasian Review of International Affairs
Abstract:
The Russian authorities are engaged in a policy of “pragmatic reimperialization” in seeking to restore Moscow's regional dominance, undermining U.S. global influence, dividing the NATO alliance, neutralizing the European Union (EU), limiting further NATO and EU enlargement, and re-establishing zones of “privileged interest” in the former Soviet bloc, where pliant governments are targeted through economic, political, and security instruments. Russia's strategies are pragmatic and opportunistic by avoiding ideology and political partisanship and focusing instead on an assortment of threats, pressures, inducements, and incentives. Despite its expansive ambitions, the Russian Federation is – potentially – a failing state, and may be resorting to increasingly desperate imperial reactions to intractable internal problems that could presage the country's territorial disintegration.
Topic:
NATO and Imperialism
Political Geography:
Russia, United States, and Europe

85. The Myth of a Kinder, Gentler War

Author:
Michael A. Cohen
Publication Date:
05-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
World Policy Journal
Institution:
World Policy Institute
Abstract:
Shortly after he assumed command of all U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan, Lt. Gen. Stanley McChrystal provided his soldiers with operational guidance for fighting insurgent Taliban forces. McChrystal's words directly reflect the Pentagon's new model of U.S. warfare and inform the philosophy behind the current U.S. military escalation in Afghanistan: “The ongoing insurgency must be met with a counterinsurgency campaign adapted to the unique conditions in each area that: protects the Afghan people, allowing them to choose a future they can be proud of; provides a secure environment allowing good government and economic development to undercut the causes and advocates of insurgency.”
Topic:
NATO and Insurgency
Political Geography:
Afghanistan and United States

86. Combining Realism with Vision Options for NATO's new Strategic Concept

Author:
Riccardo Alcaro
Publication Date:
05-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Istituto Affari Internazionali
Abstract:
Elaborating a Strategic Concept is a delicate undertaking which implies a good deal of resolve, far - sightedness, and realism. Allies should neither search for a new North Star nor give in to the temptation of de facto acceptance of the status quo as the optimal solution. Instead, they should make choices reflecting a synthesis, not just a list, of their security priorities. In particular, they should consider the future of the allied deterrence and defence strategies in a security environment characterised by significant political and technological changes, including by thinking about steps towards withdrawing US nuclear weapons in Europe and creating an integrated missile defence system; learn the lessons from the Balkans and Afghanistan and accord greater priority to stabilisation than to rapid reaction capabilities; recognise that compromises will be inevitable if they are serious about considering Russia as a partner, and start by pausing for a while with enlargement. Allies should also make it clear that they have no ambition of turning NATO into a world gendarme and shift towards cooperative crisis management.
Topic:
NATO, Treaties and Agreements, and International Security
Political Geography:
Afghanistan, Russia, United States, and Europe

87. The Key To Success in Afghanistan: A Modern Silk Road Strategy

Author:
S. Frederick Starr and Andrew C. Kuchina
Publication Date:
05-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Strategic and International Studies
Abstract:
One of the most promising ways forward for the U.S. and NATO in Afgha-nistan is to focus on removing the impediments to continental transport and trade across Afghanistan's territory. Many existing international initiatives from the Mediterranean to the Indian sub-continent and Southeast Asia are already bringing parts of this network into being. Absent is the overall priori-tization, coordination, and risk management that will enable Afghanistan to emerge as a natural hub and transit point for roads, railroads, pipelines, and electric lines. America and its coalition partners can provide these missing ingredients.
Topic:
NATO
Political Geography:
Afghanistan, United States, America, and Southeast Asia

88. Adapting the U.S.-EU Summit for a Globalized World

Author:
Annette Heuser and Frances G. Burwell
Publication Date:
11-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Atlantic Council
Abstract:
The U.S.-EU Summit has lost its moorings. The Obama administration's decision on January 31, 2010 to postpone the May 2010 U.S.-EU Summit was a tacit recognition that the Summit lacks clarity of purpose and strategic vision. Neither side had successfully articulated any particular reason to meet. While Obama's decision was largely based on domestic political calculus, the move prompted some deep soul-searching in Brussels. Confidence in Brussels about the new administration's commitment to the U.S.-EU Summit process, and to working with the EU in general, reached a low point when Anne-Marie Slaughter, the Director of Policy Planning at the U.S. State Department, said that the Summit should take place “only when necessary.”
Topic:
NATO, Globalization, and International Cooperation
Political Geography:
United States, Europe, and North America

89. Radical Islam in the North Caucasus

Author:
Sergey Markedonov
Publication Date:
11-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Strategic and International Studies
Abstract:
As Kyrgyzstan plunges into crisis and the threat of a second Afghanistan in Central Asia looms large, the situation in the "Big Caucasus" seems less pressing and thus overshadowed. The worst scenarios predicted by analysts and politicians for the period of the 2008 August war have not been realized. The Russian attempt to "replace the regime" of Mikhail Saakashvili or apply the Georgian pattern in Ukraine, expected by many in the West, has not taken place. Neither have the attempts from the West (the United States, NATO, and others) to "nudge Georgia into a rematch," which were expected in Moscow. Nonetheless, the Caucasus region remains one of the most vulnerable spaces in Eurasia. In the Caucasus, the first precedent of a revision of borders between the former Soviet republics was established. For the first time in Eurasia, and particularly in the Caucasus, partially recognized states have emerged. While their independence is denied by the United Nations, it is recognized by the Russian Federation, a permanent member of the UN Security Council. After the "hot August" of 2008, Moscow demonstrated its willingness to play the role of a revisionist state for the first time since 1991. Russia defines the "Big Caucasus" as the sphere of its vital interests and priorities and consequently pretends to be a key stakeholder for the whole region.
Topic:
NATO, Islam, and Insurgency
Political Geography:
Afghanistan, Russia, United States, Central Asia, Eurasia, Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan, Moscow, and United Nations

90. Fear and Loathing in Afghanistan?

Author:
Terry Terriff
Publication Date:
05-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of Military and Strategic Studies
Institution:
Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies
Abstract:
The passing tempest towards the end of June that led to the relief of US General Stanley McChrystal as commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan was both fascinating and disturbing. Much of the initial focus of the public debate focused on whether Gen. McChrystal should or should not be relieved because of the apparent distain of his command staff for their civilian leadership. The apparent split in opinion among media commentators on this question apparently existed even within the administration of President Barak Obama, as Secretary of Defense Robert Gates publicly admitted he advised the president that Gen. McChrystal should be kept in post lest removing him slow down or even halt the momentum of the new counterinsurgency strategy. The revelations in the Rolling Stone article, ‚The Runaway General‛, put President Obama in a ‚damned if he did and damned if he didn't‛ position; on the one hand the president ran the risk of appearing weak if he did not dismiss Gen. McChrystal, while on the other hand he ran the risk that the removal of the general could have an adverse impact on success in Afghanistan for which he would ultimately be blamed. The President, however, demonstrated considerable political deftness in accepting Gen. McChrystal's resignation and nominating Gen. David Petraeus, currently heading up Central Command, to replace him.
Topic:
NATO
Political Geography:
Afghanistan and United States