howe_30-31_Special Report 12/8/10 7:51 PM Page 30
In Lisbon, NATO Leaders Identify Current Threats, but no Single Enemy SpecialReport
By Marvine Howe
PHOTO M. HOWE
Leaders of NATO’s 28 member states agreed on a Strategic Concept for the next decade, aimed at adapting its collective defense capability to a whole range of modern threats which have come into focus since the end of the Cold War. Current threats to the EuroAtlantic were listed as: the proliferation of ballistic missiles, nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction, the spread of extremist groups using modern technology in terrorist attacks, as well as trans-national trafficking in arms, narcotics and people, and increasingly frequent cyber attacks by foreign military and intelligence services, organized criminals, terrorists and other extremist groups. No nation was singled out to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (c) stands behind Afghan President Hamid Karzai (l) and succeed the former Soviet Union NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen (r) during NATO’s Lisbon summit. as the enemy in the 11-page “Strategic Concept for the Defense he North Atlantic Treaty Alliance influenced by the conciliatory mood of the and Security of the Members of the North (NATO) emerged from a two-day sum- NATO conference, or their spirits chas- Atlantic Treaty Organization.” An earlier mit in Lisbon in late November with a tened by the fierce wind and rainstorm on version of the document elaborated by fornew, leaner, more conciliatory look, open opening day—or perhaps the Portuguese mer U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Alto dialogue and cooperation, while reaf- authorities are simply good at riot control. bright and a group of experts was said to firming its original goal: to safeguard the Earlier Portugal had turned back at the have named Iran and the Middle East as a border a number of known foreign anti- potential missile threat. Questioned about freedom and security of all its members. Actually, it was a feast of four summits, war activists, and ordered six anti-riot ar- the omission, NATO Secretary-General Anwith the NATO leadership meeting succes- mored vehicles, which arrived too late and ders Fogh Rasmussen told a news conference that there was an external threat from sively with special partners: the Russian at any rate were not needed. City Hall wisely turned over the heart of “more than 30 countries that have or are Federation, Afghanistan, and the European Union. Some 3,000 journalists and other the capital to the anti-war, anti-establish- building missiles.” He also stressed that media people were accredited by NATO to ment groups, and some 8,000 activists NATO was not engaged in the Middle East cover the events, which took place at the marched down the Avenida da Liberdade Peace Process but “supportive” of the tightly secured Park of Nations, site of the with banners proclaiming “NATO NO; United States and the Quartet in their atPEACE YES” and shouting “No more colo- tempts to find a solution. “I don’t know if Expo 98 on the eastern corner of Lisbon. As usual, the meetings of heads of state nial wars!” There were in fact three sepa- NATO can play a role if there’s a peace and government attracted thousands of rate demonstrations, organized by the Por- agreement,” he said, suggesting that it protesters from around the world, but un- tuguese Communist Party and the Leftist might be useful if international supervilike many publicized gatherings of the in- Bloc and a small group of mainly foreign sion were needed. Turkey is said to have rejected any docternational elite, Lisbon was not sacked or anarchists and pacifists, who vented their set afire. Perhaps the demonstrators were rage in an orderly manner. The only inci- ument that mentioned Iran or Syria as a dent occurred when a fourth group of threat—and NATO policy must be apMarvine Howe, former New York Times bu- about 60 European anti-war activists tried proved by consensus. “It is not in Turkey’s reau chief and author of Morocco: The Is- to block an access to the NATO summits, in interest to see Iran become a nuclear lamist Awakening and Other Challenges an act of civil disobedience. The police de- power, and Istanbul is within range of (available from the AET Book Club), is re- tained 42 of the demonstrators, many their missiles,” a Turkish diplomat exsearching a book on immigration and inte- adorned with red paint to symbolize blood, plained, adding: “But these are our neighgration issues in Iberia. bors, and the last thing we want is a milibut no serious casualties were reported.
T
30
THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2011