NATO and the Arctic: is the Atlantic alliance a cold war relic in a peaceful region now faced with non-military challenges?

Abstract

This article analyzes which role the Atlantic Alliance plays in the Arctic and whether it can contribute to the security and territorial integrity of its members in the region. In a dramatic change from the cold war era, the Arctic is no longer at the center of a conflict between two hostile superpowers. But what can a basically military organization such as NATO – though with proven political functions – contribute to stabilizing the Arctic region if its major challenges are non-military? With regional challenges resulting mostly from globalization and climate change, it is open to question whether a military alliance such as NATO has the will and the capability to cope with them. We might thus need to look also at individual members’ interests and abilities besides searching for joint alliance action. If we find NATO not up to the challenges, which alternative institutions offer themselves for coping with the political conflicts and controversies in the Polar region?     

European security as practice: EU–NATO communities of practice in the making?

ABSTRACT

European security is at a critical juncture and many have called for a more coherent and efficient response, involving both the EU and NATO. However, the primary tool for EU–NATO cooperation, “Berlin Plus”, has been stuck in a political quagmire since the mid-2000s, making a lot of scholars to conclude that this cooperation is obsolete and outdated. This article is challenging this view by analysing a range of informal but regular interaction patterns that have emerged. Using practice theory, it sheds new light on and explores how EU and NATO staff at all levels engage in informal practices on various sites in headquarters in Brussels and in field operations. A study of EU–NATO cooperation as practice focuses on the everyday, patterned production of security as well as what makes action possible, such as (tacit) practical knowledge and shared “background” knowledge (education, training, and experience). The article also discusses the extent to which shared repertoires of practice may evolve into loose communities of practice that cut across organisational and professional boundaries.     

全球公域战略与北约安全新理念

“全球公域”系指主权国家管辖之外的人类共有资源、区域与领域。全球公域战略是北约为顺应国际安全形势变化所推出的重要举措,也是其为促进自身转型所采取的关键步骤。在全球公域战略新语境下,北约在继承后冷战时期以“进攻性防御”、“全球性防御”和“预防性防御”为逻辑主线的理念前提下,进一步扬弃创新,继而形成以“综合安全”、“相对安全”与“合作安全”为思想内核的安全新理念。在新战略、新理念的指导下,北约充分动员一切可用的军事和民用资源,审慎而有选择地将有限的力量部署在国际海洋、国际空域、外太空与网络空间等不为任何主权国家所有而全人类安全与繁荣所系之域,以保障其成员国的安全利益与战略优势。面对北约“合作加防范”双轨制全球公域战略,中国宜积极回应、力促合作,同时树立防范意识、加快自身能力建设,在维护国家利益的同时与北约携手为全球公域安全治理贡献力量。     

北约网络安全战略及其启示

冷战结束后,北约在不断扩大的同时,多次提出“战略新概念”,追求地域扩张和功能深化,寻求在两个维度上实现发展与转型。自2002年布拉格峰会上首次将合作保障网络空间安全列入北约政治议程以来,网络空间安全已经成为北约功能拓展的一个主要方向。网络安全战略基于北约对网络攻击破坏力和网络空间公共性的考虑,已经形成较为完整的政策网络,然而由于各国对未来形势判断不一,这一战略尚未完全定型。理解和分析北约网络安全战略需要理清虚与实、公与私、攻与防、近与远四组关系——它们分别涉及北约确立网络安全战略的原因、战略发展过程中面临的主要挑战、战略未来的发展方向和战略的总体特点,贯穿了北约网络战略发展的始终。作为北约核心成员,美国在北约打造网络战略的整个过程中将扮演关键角色。正因如此,网络安全作为美国与欧洲共同关注的前沿问题,也将为掌握美欧关系动态打开一扇窗口。及时了解北约这一战略及发展方向,对于中国认识北约、理解跨大西洋（美欧）关系、制定本国网络战略和维护网络安全都应有所启示。     

Cosmic top secret Europe? The legacy of North Atlantic Treaty Organization and cold war US policy on European Union information policy

As the EU has expanded its authority into areas of high politics such as monetary, defense, and foreign policy, it has simultaneously developed procedures for handling more sensitive and classified information. These critical policy domains require standards regulating secure information and personnel, but the concept of official secrets is in tension with the treaty norms of the EU. Observers allege that the classified information policy of the EU was imposed through the coercion of external actors such as North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the USA in a significant historical departure from the information security policies of European member states. This article evaluates the content of EU-classified information policies and compares them to the content of European member states, NATO, and the USA, in an effort to clarify the mechanisms of policy diffusion in the area of information security.     

Shifting locus of governance? The case of NATO's connected forces initiative

In early 2012, NATO's then-Secretary General, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, unveiled the Connected Forces Initiative (CFI), an effort designed to increase allied interoperability and readiness. Through three lines of effort – training and education, exercises, and better use of technology – the CFI is intended to help the alliance maintain the operational and tactical interoperability it developed in Afghanistan. At first glance, the CFI appears to represent an example of the claims of some neo-institutionalist scholars that there is a shift in the locus of governance from member states to NATO. However, this article takes a deeper look and concludes that in fact the locus of security governance is not shifting, at least not in this instance. Member states of the alliance retain several means of controlling and influencing NATO, thereby preventing it from developing a significant degree of autonomy, in contrast to the European Union or United Nations.     

The rise and fall of Spain's ‘nuclear exceptionalism’

The present article looks at the evolution of Spanish views on deterrence and non-proliferation. Like every member state of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), Spain is covered by the US nuclear umbrella and has accepted the logic of deterrence, while at the same time maintaining a denuclearised status and committing to the goal of disarmament enshrined in the non-proliferation treaty. This article explores the background of Spain's apparently contradictory situation as a denuclearised member of NATO and how it positions itself in regard to the nuclear question in the current security context. It concludes that while Spanish nuclear ‘exceptionalism’ originally rested on the reluctance of the political elites to alter the precarious compromise that once allowed for Spain's accession to NATO as a denuclearised member, it gradually withered away to give way to a close alignment with Alliance policies driven by a desire to preserve strong security links with its partners.     

东盟与亚太安全共同体建设的路径选择

地区安全共同体具有自身的社会学和政治学意涵,体现出地区各国在促进共同体建构的安全意识以及共同安全理念的进化历程和结果,表现为地区国家间对安全议题和环境上的高度认同感,并塑造了相互间友好和平的关系。东盟安全共同体建设是与政治共同体结合在一起的,是以一系列的政策文件为指导,建立了一系列的地区多边安全合作机制,对促进地区稳定与安全发挥了相当独特的作用。然而,东盟安全共同体建设的政策措施和原则的局限性影响了东亚和亚太安全共同体建设进程,使之仍停留在相当初级的建构阶段,未能对增进地区发展与繁荣提供足够有效的和平红利。中国要打造周边命运共同体,只有在继承和创新和平外交理念的过程中,在多方面采取理性而积极的外交政策和倡议,与包括东盟在内的其他行为体共同建构起亚太可持续安全共同体,才能塑造总体有利的周边安全环境。     

NATO's Response Force: finally getting it right?

Abstract

At the Riga Summit in November 2006, NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) declared the NATO Response Force (NRF) a fully operational capability. Yet only 8 months later – and behind closed doors – the Alliance's military authorities rescinded the declaration as it became increasingly clear that member states were unwilling to make the necessary commitments to the force. To this day, the force has been a qualified failure: while many allies have benefited from participating in the NRF, lack of concrete troop commitments and disagreement as to the force's operational role have largely eroded its credibility. This could change with the allies' recent adoption of a revised NRF-construct. However, as NATO is still in a state of strategic confusion, the NRF is likely to continue to be different things to different nations.     

Defense sector reform in the Western Balkans – different approaches and different tools

This article analyses two different approaches to defense sector reform (DSR) in the Western Balkans. It explores the role of NATO in the reform process in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), as well as Norway's involvement in Montenegro. Based on this, the article then compares and contrasts the two processes, and looks at the factors that have influenced their success or failure. The analysis show that both BiH and Montenegro have taken significant steps towards Euro-Atlantic integration, and that NATO and Norway have succeeded in part of their work to assist this effort. However, it also suggests that certain key factors for success in SSR have been less than optimal, such as donor coordination and the principle of local ownership. Both actors are also limited by the lack of a conceptual framework or guidelines for their work on DSR.     

Governing after crisis – the politics of investigation,accountability and learning Emergency politics – paradox,law, democracy

Sarkozy's decision to bring France back into NATO's integrated military structure in 2009 represents in some ways a break with French exceptionalism. But how deep is this change? This article examines whether the decision has led to a real integration of France along various dimensions of integration; whether the decision represents a continuation or a break with the traditional French approach and the effects of this reintegration on NATO/EU cooperation. The empirical analysis of French political and military practices in NATO combines a focus on macro-level foreign policy formulations with a micro-level study of how French officials and representatives communicate and interact on a day-to-day basis. The analysis shows that France has become increasingly integrated into NATO since 2009 on most dimensions except with regard to cultural integration. Thus, France may be reintegrated in practice, but not yet in principle.     

非传统安全共同体:一种跨国安全治理的新探索

随着大量复杂多变的非传统安全问题的出现,以\"非军事性\"为特征的\"资源性\"安全困境日益凸显,冲击着各国政府及跨国组织的现有安全政策和安全合作机制,传统安全共同体难以应对新的挑战。文章通过对安全共同体理论的反思,提出了建构\"非传统安全共同体\"的设想,对其特征、类型、动力、建构路径等进行探讨,并对多边主义进行了新的理论扩展。非传统安全共同体强调国家间面对共有威胁时的共同命运,提倡\"类安全\"意义上的联合与共享,是消解\"资源性\"安全困境的有效途径。\"和合主义\"以\"优态共存\"\"共享安全\"\"安全共治\"为核心范畴,是非传统安全共同体的价值前提,\"多元多边合作\"是建构非传统安全共同体的最佳方案。同时,积极参与全球、区域、次区域等各层次的非传统安全共同体建构,也是中国践行\"命运共同体\"理念的重要路径。     

NATO and the war on terror: The organizational challenges of the post 9/11 world

This paper deals with NATO’s ability to contribute to the war on terrorism. The paper highlights the difficulties that the organization has encountered in dealing with a threat that is entirely different from the one that the organization was created to deal with. The paper discusses NATO’s new policies, al Qaeda’s transformation since 9/11, and the nature of terrorism. The paper suggests that although NATO has drafted a number of new antiterrorist policies they are all premised on the idea of fighting a war against terrorism as if terrorism were a well defined military enemy. We conclude by arguing that the organizational behavior demonstrated by NATO is consistent with what Graham Allison and Philip Zelikow predict in their organizational process model and that many of the difficulties encountered by NATO in the war against terrorism are due to the nature of the organization. An erratum to this article is available at .     

中俄海洋安全合作论析

中俄两国在太平洋、北冰洋等海域存在诸多共同的海洋安全目标和利益,双方的海洋安全合作不仅可以在理论层面丰富发展国家间海洋安全合作的内涵,也可在现实层面改善两国的海洋安全环境,维护两国海洋安全权益,同时为全球海洋安全治理做出贡献。21世纪以来,国际形势的变化和中俄关系的相向而行给中俄海洋安全合作营造了良好的外交环境。中俄两国多层级、多领域的合作机制,为两国海洋安全合作的开展提供了丰富的交流沟通平台。北极地区作为新疆域为中俄海洋安全合作带来了新的机遇。中国“一带一路”倡议和俄罗斯“向东看”发展政策也在不断拓展双方共同的海洋安全利益。与此同时,中俄两国的海洋安全合作也面临着“互信程度有待进一步提高、海上防卫方向不完全重合、世界海洋安全环境的复杂与敏感”等问题。在此情况下,通过加强中俄海洋经济的合作、积极构建海洋安全利益共同体以及合理规划中俄海洋安全合作的重点方向和拓展空间,可有效应对双方海洋安全合作面临的挑战。同时,推动多边海洋安全合作机制的建立不仅可为新时代中俄海洋安全合作的深化保驾护航,也有利于促进全球海洋安全的制度化建设。