Our NATO: Looking back but moving forward

Yesterday marked 50 days to go until we host the NATO Wales Summit. In Parliament, the UK Minister’s for Europe, David Lidington, addressed Parliament on preparations ahead of the Summit, which will be the largest gathering of international leaders ever to take place in the UK. Over 24,000 room nights have been reserved in over 80 hotels in Wales to accommodate the over 185 VIPs and thousands of delegates who will travel to South Wales.

For those involved in preparations for the Summit, who either work at NATO headquarters or who are involved in NATO operations, this Summit is a key moment to reflect on NATO’s past experiences and define NATO’s future. It will discuss the situation in Afghanistan as the ISAF mission draws to an end, evaluate the long-term implications on the Russia-Ukraine crisis and determine how NATO will evolve to address new risks and challenges. September will see global leaders reiterate their commitment to the transatlantic alliance, as it has done in all of its previous summits.

For those without a direct connection to NATO, however, it can seem difficult to understand the excitement over the Summit. To some, NATO feels an intangible acronym which associates itself with past history, rather than future challenges. Although the crisis in Ukraine has reminded many of the need for NATO, the difficult task of explaining relevance and importance to the next generation of transatlantic security challenges remains.

With that in mind, the British Embassy in Washington set out to explain why NATO is relevant for the full range of security challenges we face today. To do so, we decided a visit to NATO was in order. In early June, we escorted a group of US Congressional staffers to London and Brussels to witness firsthand how NATO operates to the benefit of transatlantic security and prosperity, and to understand how the UK plays its part as a leader in and significant contributor to NATO.

At this point, you may be wondering how (with the exception of deploying on a NATO operation) you can demonstrate the importance of a somewhat intangible set of relationships. Walking through NATO headquarters illustrated the commitment by member nations (on a personnel and financial level) to ensuring transatlantic security. You got the genuine sense of solidarity toward the same mission. Upon entering at NATO HQ, the different languages overheard, combined with the numerous military delegations walking through corridors and intermingling with representatives gave a sense of collective responsibility.

People tend to forget that their own troops often work alongside other nations to combat threats; rarely does a nation engage abroad without a collection of allies alongside. This sort of multilateral engagement is facilitated through NATO, which provides the infrastructure to facilitate these decisions to address security threats so that resources, regional expertise and capabilities can be managed effectively. For example, Operation Active Endeavour is a patrolling mission in the Mediterranean to deter and disrupt terrorist activity and is realised through Greek and Italian leadership. The business and operational components within NATO are also reflective of all member nations; at a command centre monitoring maritime activity, the General pointed to ten different nationalities, among them the UK, Poland, United States, France and Italy.

The visit additionally illustrated how NATO is the bedrock of our own defence and security and our role as a leading player in NATO, starting by hosting the Wales Summit in September. Although a Summit is only a two day endeavour, it is no small feat to equip Wales with the capability to host numerous delegations, whilst highlighting the potential in Wales for investment and business!

 

Meetings at No.10, the Foreign Office and Ministry of Defence revealed the level of ambition by our Prime Minister to deliver a successful Summit with tangible outcomes. In order to demonstrate our existing commitments to NATO, the delegation visited NATO’s Maritime Component Command and the Headquarters of the Allied Rapid Reaction Corps, in addition to the Air Force Base which currently deploys our Baltic Air Policing Mission, all located in the UK. In a current climate where crises change continents every month (if not every week), the Royal Air Force balances emerging needs with existing responsibilities to continue contributions to transatlantic and global security needs.

The trip concluded, fittingly, on the 70th anniversary of D-Day in Normandy and brought the trip full circle. As we began this visit, our group of young professionals understood NATO historically as an important transatlantic security and nuclear alliance, built upon the same principles that UK and US troops fought for on the beaches of Normandy. For some in the group, the question had flipped from “Is NATO still relevant?” to “What would we do without NATO?”. This, I think, bestowed in all the members of our group a drive to reignite an awareness back home of NATO’s relevance, the commitment and contributions (large and small) made by every NATO member, and the huge need to see NATO as a institution to address future threats.

Cyber warfare, terrorism and other subversive threats are the evolving challenges which seek to undermine our national security in the future. But as WWII, the Cold War, the war in Afghanistan and numerous interventions have demonstrated, we are stronger when we confront these challenges together.