Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
My visit today is the first official visit by a
NATO Secretary General to the Gulf region, and I am both
honored and pleased to be here in Doha. I want to extend my
sincere appreciation to the State of Qatar for its generous
hospitability, and for organizing this conference in
cooperation with the Rand Corporation and NATO.
The Theme of our conference is “NATO’s Role in
Gulf Security”. And I value the opportunity given to me at
the beginning of our programme to set out why the security
of this region matters to the Alliance, why NATO and the
countries in the Gulf have an interesting in working
together, and how we could enhance our cooperation.
This conference is very much part of the
increased political dialogue which I have been advocating
both within the Alliance, the transatlantic forum for
strategic security issues, and between Allies and their
partners like the Gulf countries.
A political dialogue flowing quite naturally
from the role of a transformed and still transforming NATO,
projecting stability through its operations and missions,
its broad range of partnerships and through its transforming
military capabilities.
Why do NATO and the Gulf Countries have to
discuss security matters? Let me give you three key reasons.
The first reason is the changing security
environment. The threats we face today are not unique to any
of us-they are common across the globe, and none of our
countries is immune to them.
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Since the end of the Cold War more security
challenges have taken on truly global proportions: from
terrorism and failed states, through the proliferation of
weapons of mass destruction, to trafficking in human beings,
arms and drugs. These threats, often diffuse in nature,
cannot easily be contained. They must be addressed when and
where they arise, or else they will end up on our doorstep.
It is this conviction underlies the need for seeing eye to
eye with partners on these issues.
This brings me to the second reason why NATO
wants to discuss security with the countries of the Gulf. It
is the changing nature of NATO itself. Throughout the Cold
War, we focused on deterring a major war in Europe. Today,
however, you see a very different NATO.
Our membership has increased to 26 nations and
we are engaged in a wide variety of missions- ranging from
peace keeping in Balkans and Afghanistan to humanitarian
relief efforts in Pakistan, to supporting the African Union
in Darfur, all the way to conducting maritime anti-terrorist
operations in the Mediterranean Sea and running a training
mission in Iraq.
And many partners contribute significantly to
most of those missions, responding to NATO’s determination
to act together with others. Indeed, the Alliance has been
building partnerships since the end of the Cold War. Today,
NATO has close relations with countries throughout Europe,
in the Caucasus and Central Asia. For the past ten years,
the Alliance are also engaged countries from Northern Africa
and the Middle East in its Mediterranean Dialogue. And we
are now building new ties to Australia, New Zealand, Japan,
South Korea and other nations.
Why? Because we are all realize that in order to
become more secure, we need to work together and have our
actions well understood. And that by cooperating through
NATO, we are able to generate the strongest political
momentum and military effectiveness. Again, the fact that
many partner countries participate in NATO-led operations
vindicates that logic.
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As an organization 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 counties to make our cooperation very
effective. And that is why the new NATO is now in far better
position to make a tangible contribution to security more
widely, including to Gulf security.
That brings me to the third reason for looking
at NATO’s interest in Gulf security: the new dynamic in the
Gulf region itself that has been unfolding over the past few
years.
In foreign policy terms, the Gulf states
individually and collectively through the GCC, have emerged
as important players in their own right.
In domestic terms, as well, the Gulf States have
demonstrated a willingness to meet the challenge of change.
Indeed, many Gulf States have shown a strong determination
to combine their proud Islamic and Arabic heritage with the
challenges and opportunities posed by today’s globalization.
Qatar, our host country, is a perfect example of this kind
of determination and vision.
At the same time, it is clear that this region
faces formidable security challenges. Several countries in
this region have been the target of terrorist attacks. And
your immediate neighborhood remains a flashpoint of
unresolved regional issues, of proliferation risk, and of
political and religious extremism.
A new security environment, a new NATO, and a
new dynamic in the Gulf region these were the key factors
that motivated NATO, in June of last year, to launch the
Istanbul Cooperation Initiative-or ICI. In essence, the ICI
is an invitation to the countries in this region to help
promote security and regional stability through bilateral
cooperation with NATO in areas where the Alliance has
particular skills and expertise.
I am glad that, over the past year and a half,
there has been significant interest in the ICI, and strong
engagement- demonstrating that the ICI is meeting a real
requirement. At the
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moment, not only this country- Qatar- has joined the ICI,
but also Kuwait, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates. With
each of these four countries, we have made good progress in
developing individual work programmes. And there have been
expressions on interest in the ICI on the part of Saudi
Arabia and Oman as well.
So, all in all, the ICI has been off to a good
start. But I believe that we can do better still. And as we
move forward in developing this initiative and strengthening
the relationship between NATO and individual countries here
in the Gulf region, there are a number of key principles
that I believe we should keep in mind.
The first principle is practical cooperation.
Clearly, this where NATO’s comparative advantage really
lies. NATO offers a rich menu of possibilities for us to
work together. These areas include, for example, cooperation
in the fight against terrorism or in border security. But
they also include cooperation in defence reform, in crisis
management and civil emergency planning, as well as
military-to-military contacts, exercises and education.
Allow me to clarify a few things in this regard.
As I just said, NATO has tremendous expertise in security
cooperation. But that does not imply that NATO would try to
use a specific blueprint for cooperation with others. For
example, even among our 26 members nations there exists no
single unified model of defence reform. What you see instead
are several models, developed in light of specific national
experiences and distinct political and military cultures. It
is up to any country participating in the initiative to
determine which aspects of NATO’s cooperative experience
will suit it best. We are perfectly aware that a
one-size-fits-all approach will not work. But we are
perfectly capable, also, to tailor our cooperation to
specific national or regional circumstances and
requirements.
This bring me directly to the second principle
of our cooperation, which is joint ownership. Our
cooperation obviously respects and takes account of the
specific regional, cultural and political context of our
respective partners; the counties in the ICI should see
themselves as shareholders in a cooperative effort. In
short, our cooperation in the ICI should be a two-way street
based on the value added for both parties. Because a strong
security partnership benefits us all.
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The third principle is complementarily. There is
important work being undertaken by the Gulf States within
the framework of the Gulf Cooperation Council. They are
enhancing their cooperation in a number of fields, including
in the political, economic and security domains. And it is
this latter area of NATO’s efforts may assist individual
states, by supporting and building on their current efforts.
We also acknowledge that there are a number of other
initiatives directed at the region, such as by the European
Union or the G-8, and we want to complement and reinforce
those effort too.
These are the key principles that should guide
the future development of the ICI. They are sensible. They
are realistic. And they give us a solid intellectual
framework for moving forward, and reinforcing the political
dialogue and practical cooperation in which we have already
engaged.
A key requirement in our early work will be to
underpin what we are doing with a clear public diplomacy
effort. Both NATO and ICI states themselves need to emphasis
that cooperative efforts to develop their full potential, we
must do better at correcting misconceptions, overcoming
prejudices, sharing experiences and building trust. And I
believe our conference here today is an important step in
that direction.
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Today, in an era of globalization. Our security
has become interconnected. Instability in one place can
undermine security far a field. But the same logic also
applies when it comes to the benefit of peace and stability:
these benefits, too, will be felt far beyond the region
itself. And that is why we need closer cooperation between
us.
The Istanbul Cooperation Initiative opens a new
chapter in this cooperation. It provides us with a new
channel for political dialogue, and a range of instruments
for practical cooperation in the defence and security field.
In short, the ICI offers exciting new opportunities- for the
gulf countries as well as NATO. We must seize those
opportunities, and develop a new quality in our
relationship.
Thank you. |