Defence Matters - NATO is a unique force multiplier

Speech by NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen at the NATO Parliamentary Assembly in Dubrovnik, Croatia on 11 October, 2013

Edited by Nigel Chamberlain, NATO Watch

Alongside the European Union, NATO will play its part in making sure the future is a better one -- for all the countries of South-East Europe. We will continue to assure peace and stability. To engage all interested countries in partnership and cooperation. And to keep our door open for new members. Over the past decade, Croatia has already walked through NATO’s open door, and so have Albania and Slovenia. Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia all know that NATO’s door is open for them as well.

The financial crisis has placed great strains upon our economies. It has led to defence cuts in many of our countries. And it has raised questions about the need for defence. Over the past six months, NATO has been working with prominent research institutes from eight Alliance member countries to look into this question. These institutes discussed defence with representatives of civil society. They also drew upon the results of public opinion polls. And some also conducted interviews with policymakers and parliamentarians. The goal was to get a broad picture of how our publics look at defence, and the value they place upon it. The big question was: how much does our defence really matter? The results are now in. And the answer is clear. In a nutshell, defence does still matter. But we all need to do a much better job at explaining why. Four findings stand out from the research:

1. There is a wide-spread respect for our military forces and broad support for defence investment. The level of support varies from country to country. Quite a few people believe that we can, and should, cut further. But many more believe that we should either maintain our current level of spending, or increase it.

2. Our publics do understand that a country’s freedom and prosperity depend on its security. But they don’t understand how much we invest, how our investment is used, and what roles our military forces actually perform. For example, many people believe that our countries spend far more on defence than we actually do.

3. Defence industries are generally viewed as positive contributors to our economies. But these views are coloured by perceptions of wasteful spending, a lack of transparency, and inefficiencies in procurement.

4. There is a growing divide between North American and European perceptions of NATO. Generally, Europeans tend to value their country’s membership in the Alliance. In particular, being an Ally is seen as improving the transparency and effectiveness of one’s national defence forces. But North Americans increasingly believe that NATO doesn’t offer much for their security, and that Europeans need to share more of the transatlantic security burden.

So, in light of these findings, how can we make a better case for our defence in general, and for NATO in particular – on both sides of the Atlantic? I see three priorities:

1. We must highlight the basic purpose of our defence: to protect our peoples and our principles. Freedom. Democracy. Human rights. And the rule of law.

Everyone in the Alliance shares these fundamental values. They are vital to our continued peace and prosperity. But they are not a given. We must all be prepared to stand up for these values. And – if necessary – we must be prepared to fight to protect them. It was our determination to defend those values that ultimately ended the Cold War. Former adversaries became Allies. Europe is now at peace. And people feel secure, as war among European nations is simply unimaginable. Protecting our values - this is the most important reason why defence matters.

2. We must shift the argument from the cost of defence to the cost of no defence. Shift the argument from what we put in to what we get back. It’s not easy for the public to see what we might lose if we don’t invest in defence. So we need to do more to quantify this. In today’s unpredictable world, defence is an essential insurance policy. We have to spend money to save money. And to save lives. Investment in defence is also an investment in one of the world’s most innovative, highly-skilled and highly-productive industries. Like any other high-tech industry, the sector is constantly evolving. If we cut defence spending too much, for too long, we will sacrifice that expertise, and it will be impossible to replace in a hurry when we need it.

3. We must emphasise the wider importance of defence as a tool for international influence and cooperation. For all our nations, diplomacy has been and will remain the primary tool for dealing with international security challenges. But by investing in defence, we are able to back our words up with military strength. And to increase our credibility.

If we want to continue to reap the benefits of defence, there is no alternative. We must continue to invest in defence. We must continue to invest in NATO -- politically, militarily, and financially. And we must continue to look for ways to share the transatlantic defence burden more fairly. The European Council Summit dedicated to security and defence at the end of the year, and our own NATO Summit next year, will be ideal opportunities to take concrete action and to rebalance this burden. Defence matters. I know that. You know that. Your job is to help our publics know that too.

The NATO Parliamentary Assembly adopted the following policy recommendations at its concluding plenary session on Monday 14 October. They will be passed on to the Secretary General to help guide the internal decision-making process via the North Atlantic Council:

RESOLUTION 407 - NEW ENERGY IDEAS FOR NATO MILITARIES: BUILDING ACCOUNTABILITY, REDUCING DEMAND, SECURING SUPPLY

The resolution urges NATO and its member governments to make available sufficient resources for research on improving military energy efficiency in spite of financial pressures and to reduce military energy demands at fixed installations and in operations. Assembly members noted that NATO headquarters and Allied governments are actively working on ways to improve energy efficiency.

RESOLUTION 406 - IMPROVING THE SURVIVABILITY OF NATO GROUND FORCES

The resolution called on NATO to continue codifying the lessons learnt from recent operations into concrete doctrines and standards and spread best practices. Cooperation is one of the most important ways forward to bear the burden of sustainability. NATO member states can engage in a number of initiatives to further improve ground forces’ survivability, including in research, development, training, equipment, personnel, infrastructure, doctrine, organisation, information, and logistics. The recent trends in NATO Smart Defence and the EU’s Pooling & Sharing initiatives are to be welcomed and supported.

RESOLUTION 405 - THE CRISIS IN SYRIA: IMPLICATIONS FOR THE REGION AND BEYOND

The resolution called on all parties in Syria to commit to the political track known as the Geneva Process and strive toward a negotiated solution to the conflict, which has resulted in the deaths of more than 100,000 people and forced over two million others from their homes. The parliamentarians also urged the UN Security Council to ensure that Syria’s chemical weapons are destroyed, and to respond if Damascus does not comply.

RESOLUTION 404 - THE GROWING STRATEGIC RELEVANCE OF ASIA-PACIFIC: IMPLICATIONS FOR NATO

The resolution recognises that the Asia-Pacific region is of growing importance to the security and economic well-being of NATO member states and notes that the countries of the Asia-Pacific region and the Alliance share a host of security challenges. It emphases that through training and military-to-military contacts, NATO can help partner countries to improve their ability to safeguard their own regional security and to manage and prevent crisis situations in their neighbourhood. It urges NATO to further develop its partnerships in Asia-Pacific and to identify new areas of joint interest and collaboration.

RESOLUTION 403 - THE ECONOMIC AND STRATEGIC IMPLICATIONS OF THE UNCONVENTIONAL OIL AND GAS REVOLUTION

The resolution warned of dangers ahead for the European economy from growing differences in energy costs across the Atlantic and that Europe faces a potential competitive shock if its energy prices remain so much higher than those of North America. Legislators urged NATO governments to reach out to the public to explain the costs and benefits of the horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing processes which are widely used in North America to release shale gas and other subterranean energy sources, but face strong public opposition in many European countries.

RESOLUTION 402 - AFGHANISTAN: A RENEWED SECURITY, POLITICAL, AND ECONOMIC ROADMAP FOR 2014 AND BEYOND

The resolution appealed to the international community to reinvest part of the ‘drawdown dividend’ of savings made from the end of the combat mission to support for the future of the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF). Lawmakers expressed support for the Afghan High Peace Council’s negotiations with Taliban representatives and other insurgents and said NATO governments should prepare the public for the range of possible outcomes from the Peace and Reconciliation Process. The Assembly urged NATO governments to include in all negotiations and agreements with Afghan authorities the commitment to maintain and improve progress in the rights of Afghan women and girls. NATO support should be made conditional on compliance, the resolution concludes.

RESOLUTION 401 - FURTHERING STABILITY AND THE EURO-ATLANTIC PROSPECTS OF THE WESTERN BALKANS

The resolution reiterates its firm commitment to NATO’s ‘Open Door’ policy which has inspired previous rounds of NATO enlargement and calls for the consideration of accession of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Montenegro and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia at the NATO 2014 Summit.