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

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.

Other version: Il nuovo concetto strategico della Nato: verso la quadratura del cerchio?, Roma, Senato della Repubblica, April 2010, 34 p. (Approfondimenti dell'Osservatorio di politica internazionale 11).