Keeping Our Hand In: Partnership for Peace

摘要

Today Partnership for Peace (PfP) includes 45 nations, almost a quarter of those on the planet. The Partnership is arguably NATO's most successful institutional and procedural adaptation to its perceived post-Cold War security challenges, with every sign of expanding in scope. Although purely a military instrument at its inception, it has additionally come to embrace civil concerns, and today is a successful underpinning not only to its members' security environments but also to other elements of their geopolitical concerns. The goodness of PfP is manifold. Participation is seen as a means to an end by nations who desire closer military, political, economic and cultural relationships with the West. It is also a boon to NATO: the relationships and practical experience gained through PfP make future NATO actions within its AOR and beyond much easier to execute, and PfP also constitutes a 'junior membership' that allows active partnering yet largely succors those who oppose an enlarged NATO. Finally, PfP is good for the United States. Participation in its many activities allows us to prevent 'continental drift' by Europe away from the U.S., and gives us the opportunity to build relationships with numerous emerging nations, at a time when budget cuts elsewhere in our government have decreased our presence abroad. This paper will examine PfP's inception, current state, and future projections, and close with recommendations, chief among them that the U.S continues its active participation in the Partnership. PfP truly allows us, at relatively low cost, to 'keep a hand in' in NATO, Europe and nations on the European periphery.