tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5322134895568889391.post7552639971814281184..comments2023-09-27T14:36:31.840+02:00Comments on YATA Blog: Reflections on the 2011 Atlantic Council of Canada NATO TourGiuseppe Belardettihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10224718951086723144noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5322134895568889391.post-21366786027443820392011-12-10T10:21:50.889+01:002011-12-10T10:21:50.889+01:00Putting aside the sovereignty issues with smart de...Putting aside the sovereignty issues with smart defense and specialization, what evidence is there that qualitative commitments would necessarily be any cheaper than the 2% spending requirement? Also, judging each member's contribution based on quality not only opens the door for a subjectivity and vagaries, but it could, ironically, lead to less quality contributions by states trying to save money by cutting corners.DBennetthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05313158720261413865noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5322134895568889391.post-38538547310849491452011-12-05T03:17:28.455+01:002011-12-05T03:17:28.455+01:00At a time of diminishing resources for defense of ...At a time of diminishing resources for defense of the countries, NATO’s benchmark for member state defense budgets to equal at least 2% of GDP should be dropped in favour of new, qualitative measures for defense spending. The allies should pledge to make qualitative improvements to NATO’s capabilities by rationalizing expenditures, eliminating obsolete programmes and systems, avoiding unnecessary duplication, and pooling resources and capabilities as part of a strategy of “smart defense.Kristinahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01613110279270303762noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5322134895568889391.post-67967220160272237382011-12-05T03:08:37.787+01:002011-12-05T03:08:37.787+01:00The member states should explicitly reiterate in C...The member states should explicitly reiterate in Chicago that security can be provided by non-military means. As already indicated at Lisbon, they need to work together to make better use of their non-military resources, including diplomacy and development, to keep troubling conditions elsewhere from boiling up into conflicts that threaten allied interests. To make more effective use of their non-military resources, the member states should convene an intergovernmental forum, perhaps in parallel with the Chicago summit, among all NATO and European Union members, to formulate plans for cooperative programmes of crisis prevention and avoidance, drawing on all non-military resources of all NATO and EU members, as well as of these two key Western institutions.<br />While recognizing the need for better engagement of their non-military resources on behalf of security, many of which can be deployed for little net cost, the countries should agree that force improvements mandated by the Lisbon Strategic Concept will receive the highest priority in future national budgetary decisions.<br />The allies therefore need to commit to finding ways to make qualitative defense improvements on a prioritized basis even if they go about cutting funds for defense. This will be a very challenging task. Governments owe it to their public, however, as well as to their deliberative bodies, to demonstrate how they will avoid compromising security while dealing with the very real financial limitations on defense spending.Kristinahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01613110279270303762noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5322134895568889391.post-15989708289986622132011-12-05T02:43:53.074+01:002011-12-05T02:43:53.074+01:00The US National Defense University has been prepar...The US National Defense University has been preparing a proposal to create “Mission Focus Groups” (MFGs) organized around the main capability requirements of the three Strategic Concept tasks: collective defense, crisis management and cooperative security and led by European allies and Canada. These working groups would concentrate on critical areas of responsibility to help determine defense spending and investment priorities for participating allies. The objective would be to use available resources most rationally during the essential mission requirements. The work of the groups should be integrated with the resource and planning decisions of the North American allies and with NATO’s existing planning processes.Kristinahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01613110279270303762noreply@blogger.com