24 April
2008
Manama, Bahrain
A New Era of Security
Cooperation
Secretary GeneralÂ’s Speech at the ICI
Ambassadorial Conference
Your Highness,
Ministers,
Excellencies
Ladies and
Gentlemen,
On behalf of the North Atlantic Council, I would like to
thank the Kingdom of Bahrain, His Royal Highness Crown Prince Sheikh Salman bin
Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa, and in particular His Excellency the Minister of
Foreign Affairs Sheikh Khalid Al-Khalifa, for their warm and generous
hospitality.
And let me extend a very special word of thanks to Sheikh
Abdulaziz Al-Khalifa and his team at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs who have
worked with NATOÂ’s Public Diplomacy Division to ensure the success of this
conference.
Here in Bahrain, in all the nations of the NATO Alliance,
and as well as in many other countries, both policymakers and public opinion
increasingly realise that there are two faces to globalisation. Not only
is it a powerful means of breaking down barriers, opening up economies and
lifting people out of poverty. It also has some extremely unpleasant and
dangerous negative effects, to which none of our nations is immune.
Countries in Europe, in North America, and in the Gulf region have been the
target of terrorist attacks. Instability in Iraq and Afghanistan, affect
all of us, no matter how near or far we are geographically. IranÂ’s pursuit
of a uranium enrichment capability in violation of its UN Security Council
obligations is a serious concern not just for IranÂ’s neighbours, but for the
entire international community. And we also have a common interest in
energy security, whether we are suppliers, transit countries or consumers.
Against global challenges, geography no longer serves as a
shield. What we need are global responses – innovative new approaches that
extend across national, geographical and cultural boundaries.
The emerging cooperation between the Gulf states and NATO
sets an encouraging example for providing security and stability in new
ways. In domestic terms, the Gulf states have long demonstrated a
willingness to meet the challenge of change and reform. Indeed, many Gulf
states have shown a strong determination to combine their proud Islamic and
Arabic heritage with the challenges and opportunities posed by modernisation and
globalisation. The diversification of their economies and the enormous
investment in public services, education and infrastructure are just the most
obvious examples.
But in foreign policy terms as well, the Gulf states have
clearly embraced change. They have emerged as true players in their own
right, defining their relationships with other actors according to their own
strategic interests. And they sometimes have engaged in missions outside
their own region, including by participating in NATO-led peacekeeping missions
in the Balkans.
As an organisation that has been dealing with
multi-national security cooperation for more than half a century, NATO has a
wealth of experience to offer to non-NATO countries. Most importantly,
over the past decade, we have developed the necessary political and military
links with non-NATO countries to make our cooperation very effective. And
that is why NATO is now in a far better position to make a tangible contribution
to security and stability well beyond its own borders, including here in your
region.
The Istanbul Cooperation Initiative, launched in 2004, is
a reflection of these changes. It is an offer for cooperation with the
countries in this region in order to further promote security and regional
stability – an offer that can add value to the many other initiatives already
underway – an offer for bilateral cooperation with NATO in areas where the
Alliance, over its 59 years of existence, has developed particular skills and
expertise that might be of interest to the countries of this region. The
ICI offers the potential for significant benefits to all of us – to this region
and to NATO itself. Bahrain chose to join the Initiative early on,
together with Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. We hope that
the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Oman will also join the ICI in the not too
distant future.
Over the past few years, the opportunities for mutually
beneficial practical cooperation have continued to grow. They now range
from the fight against terrorism to disaster response and public
diplomacy. Within two years, the number of activities that are on offer
has tripled, currently numbering more than 260.
But it is not the sheer numbers that are impressive.
What is even more important is that this programme has been developed through
intensive consultations with the ICI countries. This demonstrates that the
basic principles of the ICI are sound: it is a demand-driven framework; it
respects the specific, individual interests and ambitions of each ICI member
country; it does not pretend that there could be a “one-size-fits-all” approach;
and it follows the logic of co-ownership, to make sure that our cooperation is a
genuine two-way street.
Much of our interaction today is focused on
military-to-military cooperation. Bahrain has sent a growing number of
participants to NATO courses and seminars. There have been several successful
expert team meetings to discuss nuclear matters, public information and other
issues. And just last week, here in Manama, we held the annual Staff Talks
between the Bahraini Defence Forces and NATO. Needless to say, we look
forward to further deepening our cooperation with Bahrain.
One area that offers particular benefits is
training. NATO is keen to share more widely with interested ICI partners
our unique expertise in training military forces – to help them to build forces
that are interoperable with those of the NATO Allies, and able to work together
more effectively. We have already created new opportunities for
cooperation in this area, because as the Gulf countries can learn from NATO, the
Alliance can also benefit from the unique experience of the Gulf
countries. ThatÂ’s why I am convinced that this process has added value for
both of us.
We have also made considerable headway in the area of
public diplomacy. As I said before, there are still too many outdated
clichés and stereotypes that could hamper our cooperation. We need to
dispel these misconceptions, and I am pleased to say that Bahrain has played a
strong role in these efforts. In June of last year, here in Manama, our
Public Diplomacy Division and Bahrain's Ministry of Information co-organised a
very successful conference on the role of media. It received wide coverage
by the press and TV channels throughout the region.
Last November, I had the honour to meet with the members
of the House of Deputies and of the Shura Council of Bahrain. And just a
few weeks ago, at NATO Headquarters in Brussels, I met with a delegation of
media representatives from Bahrain. All this demonstrates that a new
dynamic of dialogue and cooperation is unfolding, and that Bahrain is playing
its full part.
Given the increasing scope of our cooperation, we believe
that the time has come to think about how we structure and focus this
cooperation better, and to make sure that both our ICI partners and NATO members
get the most out of the time and effort that they put into this common
project. To this end, we are offering our ICI partners the opportunity to
elaborate an Individual Cooperation Programme with the Alliance. Such a
programme would be tailored to each countryÂ’s specific aims and interests.
And this makes them an excellent means to give even more substance to our
emerging relationship, and to underscore that a new era of cooperation has
already begun.
Cooperation with other countries and with the broader
international community was actually one of the central themes of the AllianceÂ’s
most recent Summit meeting – a meeting held just three weeks ago in the Romanian
capital of Bucharest.
This summit meeting was a very significant
gathering. It brought together Heads of State and Government from 60
nations as well as senior representatives from a number of international
organisations.
In addition to agreeing to further deepen our cooperation
with the countries of this region, another very important part of the Summit
dealt with our continuing cooperation with, and support to, Afghanistan.
For the first time, leaders of the 40 nations in the United Nations-mandated,
NATO-led stabilisation force in Afghanistan met with President Karzai, with the
Secretary General of the United Nations, and top officials from the European
Union and the World Bank. Together, we discussed how we can support
Afghanistan even more effectively, to help this country become more stable and
secure.
But there was more, much more, too, on the summit
agenda. For example, we invited Albania and Croatia into NATO – a step
that will soon bring the AllianceÂ’s membership to 28. As far as the former
Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia1 is concerned, we decided to extend an
invitation for membership as soon as a solution to the name issue has been
reached. I expect these negotiations to be concluded as soon as possible. We
agreed to enhance our partnership with the other countries of the Western
Balkans. We kept the door to NATO membership open for other interested
countries and agreed that Georgia and Ukraine will, eventually, have their place
in the Alliance too.
With Russia, we discussed the future of Kosovo and of
conventional arms control in Europe. We also decided to extend our
training mission for Iraqi security forces until the end of next year, and to
explore proposals for a structured cooperation framework with Iraq.
Indeed, we discussed these ideas with Prime Minister Maliki when he visited NATO
just last week.
At Bucharest, we also agreed on the need to examine
options for an Alliance-wide missile defence; to look at where we can add value
in the field of energy security; and to pursue our new policy on cyber
defence. We agreed to continue our transformation process to ensure that
NATO remains effective and efficient in addressing the increasingly complex
challenges that we face.
Your Highness, Ladies and Gentlemen,
When you consider all these decisions from Bucharest, you
can see that the way the Alliance thinks about security today is a far cry from
the way we used to think about security during the Cold War. And it is
also a far cry from the way in which NATO used to operate in the past.
You all know that NATO was created at the outset of the
Cold War, and with a very specific purpose: deterrence and defence against a
single, well-defined threat. This situation lasted for 40 years – a long
period indeed. Perhaps this explains why still too many people think of
NATO as a Cold War institution. Indeed, when people talk or write about
NATO, I am often surprised at how resilient outdated stereotypes can be.
The reality is, of course, quite different – and again I
would point to the Bucharest Summit as highly visible proof. NATO has long
ceased to be a static organisation. Since the end of the Cold War, the
Alliance has become a very flexible – and very creative – instrument for shaping
change. While article 5, the common defence, is still the foundation of our
Alliance, NATO realizes today that our defence requires more and more an
Alliance that acts – and an Alliance that acts increasingly together with other
nations and institutions.
Indeed, I would argue that cooperation has become the new
security paradigm of our age. In the age of globalisation, our security is
becoming increasingly intertwined. No matter where our countries are on the
globe, and no matter whether our cultures or historical experiences differ, we
will find that, more and more, we share common security interests.
Now is the time to turn these shared interests into
practical policy. The opportunities for fruitful, mutually beneficial
cooperation are there. It is our common obligation to use these
opportunities to the full.
I wish you all a very fruitful conference. Thank
you.