NATO 2020: A Viable New Strategic Concept for Expeditionary Operations.

摘要

NATO's essential and enduring purpose has been to safeguard the freedom and security of all members via political and military means. The Strategic Concept is the principal formal statement linking the Alliance's objectives to the various political-military ways and means that constitute its strategy for achieving them. The 2010 Strategic Concept redefines the Alliance's core tasks and principles, identifies the principal characteristics of the new security environment, details the elements of the Alliance's approach to collective security, and provides guidance for the further reform and transformation of its members' military forces. This paper examines the dichotomy between the need for ensuring NATO's security through 2020 by undertaking out-of-area military roles in accordance with the new Strategic Concept and the present-day reality of the alliance members' inability to adequately provide the collective resources or political commitment to achieve the desired strategic end-state. It will conclude with suggested recommendations on how the alliance could best align its 2020 strategic vision for the conduct of future expeditionary operations with the stark reality of a 2010 national resource-challenged and political will-threatened environment within NATO.