[20/November/2010]
LISBON, Nov 20 (Saba) — At the end of their first-day summit meeting in Lisbon Friday night, NATO leaders adopted a new Strategic Concept that will serve as the Alliance’s roadmap for the next 10 years and that reconfirms the commitment to defend one another against attack as the bedrock of Euro-Atlantic security, according to Kuwait News Agency (KUNA).
“The world is changing. We face new threats and new challenges. And this Strategic Concept will ensure that NATO remains as effective as ever in defending our peace, our security and our prosperity” NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen told a press conference last night.
He noted that the new Strategic Concept offers partner countries around the globe more opportunities for dialogue and cooperation and commits NATO to reinforce cooperation with Russia.
It also keeps the door firmly open to membership in NATO to European democracies.
“We attach great importance to peace and stability in the Gulf region, and we intend to strengthen our cooperation in the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative, ” says the 38-point document.
“We will aim to deepen the cooperation with current members of the Mediterranean Dialogue and be open to the inclusion in the Mediterranean Dialogue of other countries of the region.” “We will aim develop a deeper security partnership with our Gulf partners and remain ready to welcome new partners in the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative,” notes the Strategic Concept.
NATO’s Istanbul Cooperation Initiative, launched at the Alliance’s Summit in the Turkish city in June 2004, offer countries of the broader Middle East region practical bilateral security cooperation with NATO.
Bahrian, Kuwait, Qatar and the UAE are members of the ICI.
The new Strategic Concept urges Allies to invest in key capabilities to meet emerging threats and agree to develop within NATO the capabilities necessary to defend against ballistic missile attacks and cyber attacks.
“This is an action plan which sets out clearly the concrete steps NATO will take,” stressed Rasmussen , as he presented the new Strategic Concept in Lisbon.
“It will put in place an Alliance that is more effective, more engaged and more efficient than ever before,” he said.
Stressing that the time has come for NATO to develop new capabilities and new partnerships, the new Strategic Concept paves the way for the Alliance to modernise its ability to carry out its core mission of collective defence, while continuing to promote international stability.
“NATO’s fundamental and enduring purpose is to safeguard the freedom and security of all its members by political and military means. Today, the Alliance remains an essential source of stability in an unpredictable world,” says the document.
The document highlights the need for NATO to remain ready to play an active role in crisis management operations, whenever it is called to act.
Rasmussen told reporters that NATO wants a world without nuclear weapons but underlined that “as long as nuclear weapons exist, NATO will remain a nuclear alliance.” The Strategic Concept notes that “the proliferation of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction, and their means of delivery, threatens incalculable consequences for global stability and prosperity.” “During the next decade, proliferation will be most acute in some of the world’s most volatile regions,” it states.
“Terrorism poses a direct threat to the security of the citizens of NATO countries, and to international stability and prosperity more broadly.
“Extremist groups continue to spread to, and in, areas of strategic importance to the Alliance, and modern technology increases the threat and potential impact of terrorist attacks, in particular if terrorists were to acquire nuclear, chemical, biological or radiological capabilities,” it warns.
Saba