Time for NATO to rediscover its core purpose

26 March، 2022

After this week’s emergency meeting of NATO leaders in Brussels to coordinate their response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the alliance needs to be thinking longer term as the Madrid summit approaches this year.

In Spain, NATO will publish its new Strategic Concept, the premier policy document to guide its role into the future. The last one was published at the Lisbon summit in 2010, and is obviously out of date. Since then, thealliance has had to deal with the so-called Arab Spring and its aftermath, NATO’s intervention in Libya, the defeat in Afghanistan, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the rise of Daesh, the migrant crisis in Europe, and Russia’s intervention in Syria.

In addition to these geopolitical challenges, advancements in hybrid warfare, especially in the cyber and disinformation realm, have posed new challenges. Meanwhile some in the US were questioning the purpose of NATO, and some in Europe were questioning America’s role in European security. The consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic will also have an impact for the foreseeable future. The word “pandemic” is not even found in the last Strategic Concept.

With the war in Ukraine, it is clearer than ever what the focus of the next Strategic Concept must be —territorial defense. In many ways, the alliance must return to its original mission.

NATO was founded in 1949 to protect the territorial integrity of its members and — if required — to defeat the Soviet Union. While its members are no longer worried about the spread of communism, many are certainly worried about protecting their territory from Russian aggression.

Far from being outmoded, the alliance today is more relevant and crucial for maintaining transatlantic security than it has been since the end of the Cold War.

Luke Coffey

NATO must be able to deter aggression and defend the territorial integrity of its members. Everything else is secondary to the core mission of collective territorial defense. Article 5 of the 1949 North Atlantic Treaty states that “an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all.” Any deviation from this commitment will only invite aggression. This mutual defense clause is what makes Article 5 the cornerstone of the alliance. Everything NATO does should stem from this critical point.

This renewed focus on territorial defense in Europe may come at the expense of NATO deepening its relationship with countries in the Middle East. While it is not entirely part of NATO’s area of responsibility, the alliance cannot ignore the region and must strike the right balance in terms of resources and focus between Europe and the Middle East.

NATO carries out its cooperative security task with its southern partners through two mechanisms — the Mediterranean Dialogue and the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative.

The former, launched in 1994, forms the basis of NATO’s relations with Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Mauritania, Morocco, and Tunisia. The latter, launched in 2004, forms the basis of NATO relations with the Gulf states. Although all six GCC countries were invited to join, only Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, and the UAE have done so. Even though the next Strategic Concept must focus largely on territorial defense in Europe, it would be a mistake to ignore NATO’s engagement with the Mediterranean and the Middle East.

In the 21st century, NATO needs to return to basics, with territorial defense as its primary goal. The alliance does not have to — and cannot — be everywhere in the world doing everything all the time, but in the North Atlantic area it must be able to defend its member states.

NATO has done more to promote democracy, peace, and security in Europe than any other organization, including the EU. Far from being outmoded, the alliance today is more relevant and crucial for maintaining transatlantic security than it has been since the end of the Cold War.