Today, 26 NATO Heads of State and Government will meet at NATO Headquarters in Brussels. They are here to demonstrate a strong spirit of unity in the transatlantic community, a determination to look forward and take action together.
There are important questions to be addressed, not only about the direction of NATO's missions and operations, but also about the future of transatlantic security cooperation and the role the alliance will play.
The broad range of issues to be discussed mirrors the essential place of the alliance in addressing today's security challenges.
They will discuss how to reinforce the success the international community has had in helping to build a new, democratic Afghanistan.
NATO and its members are already providing the essential security Afghanistan needs in order to make its aspirations for self-sustaining peace and prosperity a reality. Today, NATO leaders will reaffirm their commitment to the courageous people of this country:?we will help them for as long as it takes.
Iraq is a case in point. All 26 NATO nations are now, as an alliance, working together to respond to the Iraqi government's request for support:?by training Iraqi security forces, by providing equipment, or by helping to fund NATO's efforts.
We are building a stronger relationship with the broader Middle East. Already, the alliance is developing a deeper political dialogue and more practical cooperation with the countries of North Africa, Israel and Jordan, and opening up a discussion with the Gulf States. When Condoleezza Rice made her first visit as Secretary of State to NATO headquarters two weeks ago, Alliance Foreign Ministers had a discussion about the Middle East Peace Process. The broader Middle East will be on the agenda of Heads and State and Government again today.
Many other critical political issues will be addressed:?from ensuring stability in Kosovo as the political situation evolves this year; to the importance of maintaining strong relations and a frank dialogue with Russia; to building a stronger relationship with the EU, one that maximises the complementarity between our two organisations; to supporting the new government in Ukraine as it finds its path. In that regard, this morning NATO leaders will welcome their first meeting with President Viktor Yushchenko.
They will share with him their common determination to help him build a better, more democratic future for his people, and strengthen Ukraine's Euro-Atlantic integration.
But NATO leaders will also lift their eyes from the immediate challenges of the day, and discuss a fundamental strategic question as well: how to use NATO to its fullest potential as a platform for holding political discussions and building transatlantic consensus across the wide range of the issues where Europe and North America share common interests and wish to defend common values.
NATO is the only permanent political forum in which North America sits together with Europe. This is a unique framework for profound transatlantic political consultation and effective military cooperation. And it works -- but it can do more. The alliance can and should be the place to discuss and debate a broader range of political issues.
Indeed, as we face today's security challenges -- terrorism, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, failed states -- we cannot afford not to. I am encouraged that, more and more, alliance leaders are coming to share the same view.
Today's Summit meeting will give a new impulse to NATO's political evolution. That evolution will accelerate in the coming months and years, as NATO strengthens its role in shaping and delivering transatlantic security cooperation in the 21st century.
Jaap de Hoop Scheffer is secretary-general of NATO.
Copyright: Project Syndicate
Saudi Arabian largesse is flooding Egypt’s cultural scene, but the reception is mixed. Some welcome new “cooperation” between two regional powerhouses, while others fear a hostile takeover by Riyadh. In Cairo, historically the cultural capital of the Arab world, Egyptian Minister of Culture Nevine al-Kilany recently hosted Saudi Arabian General Entertainment Authority chairman Turki al-Sheikh. The deep-pocketed al-Sheikh has emerged as a Medici-like patron for Egypt’s cultural elite, courted by Cairo’s top talent to produce a slew of forthcoming films. A new three-way agreement between al-Sheikh, Kilany and United Media Services — a multi-media conglomerate linked to state intelligence that owns much of
The US and other countries should take concrete steps to confront the threats from Beijing to avoid war, US Representative Mario Diaz-Balart said in an interview with Voice of America on March 13. The US should use “every diplomatic economic tool at our disposal to treat China as what it is... to avoid war,” Diaz-Balart said. Giving an example of what the US could do, he said that it has to be more aggressive in its military sales to Taiwan. Actions by cross-party US lawmakers in the past few years such as meeting with Taiwanese officials in Washington and Taipei, and
The Republic of China (ROC) on Taiwan has no official diplomatic allies in the EU. With the exception of the Vatican, it has no official allies in Europe at all. This does not prevent the ROC — Taiwan — from having close relations with EU member states and other European countries. The exact nature of the relationship does bear revisiting, if only to clarify what is a very complicated and sensitive idea, the details of which leave considerable room for misunderstanding, misrepresentation and disagreement. Only this week, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) received members of the European Parliament’s Delegation for Relations
Denmark’s “one China” policy more and more resembles Beijing’s “one China” principle. At least, this is how things appear. In recent interactions with the Danish state, such as applying for residency permits, a Taiwanese’s nationality would be listed as “China.” That designation occurs for a Taiwanese student coming to Denmark or a Danish citizen arriving in Denmark with, for example, their Taiwanese partner. Details of this were published on Sunday in an article in the Danish daily Berlingske written by Alexander Sjoberg and Tobias Reinwald. The pretext for this new practice is that Denmark does not recognize Taiwan as a state under