NATO's Southern flank and Italy's role in it

The end of the Cold War brought about a change in US basing policy in Italy. Some bases were dismantled, while others, like the one in Vicenza, were strengthened raising considerable local protest for environmental reasons. The article examines whether agreements establishing the US bases have a solid foundation in the Italian Constitution and whether the weapons detained there are in conformity with the disarmament treaties binding Italy. Since the bases are now employed for NATO “out-of-area” operations and have become a part of the US strategy of “war on terror”, they inevitably influence Italy's foreign policy and its option to stay out of ongoing conflicts. The article also considers the continuing need for US bases from the point of view of Atlantic solidarity.     

北约新任秘书长拉斯穆森

今年4月4日,在北约斯特拉斯堡一凯尔峰会上,北约成员国推选丹麦首相拉斯穆森接替即将于7月31日任职届满的夏侯雅伯,担任北约历史上第13任秘书长。当前,在美俄围绕北约东扩、科索沃独立和格鲁吉亚问题而展开的明争暗斗不断加剧,法国重返北约军事一体化步伐日益加快,加之阿     

The Effect of the Ukrainian Crisis on NATO's Transformation

NATO was a product of the Cold War, and the USSR/Warsaw Pact was its top priority. After the Cold War, Russia was still a rival of NATO,but it was no longer regarded as its only opponent. However, with the start of the Ukrainian crisis in 2014, relations between Russia and major Western countries have become tense, and NATO has stepped up efforts to confront Russia. Thus the country is once again attracting NATO＇s attention. Will this interrupt NATO＇s transformation？ What is its future path？ This article will attempt to make some preliminary assessments.     

Old Europe,New Europe and Transatlantic Relations

This article establishes the broader framework for the rest of the volume by addressing the contemporary context of transatlantic relations and secondly by establishing strategic culture as the conceptual tool for the collection. The article takes issue with realist/material explanations of recent transatlantic disputes, as posited, for example, by Rober Kagan, which tend to portray the transatlantic divide as the US on one side and Europe on the other. In fact Europe itself was very much divided over Iraq and the conduct of US foreign policy. Moreover, the sources of this division, manifest vividly in the notion of Old and New Europe, were based on cultural, historical as well as material factors and as such are best understood by invoking the concept of strategic culture.

Thoughtful Europeans know that Europe must unite in some form if it is to play a major role in the long run. They are aware, too, that Europe does not make even approximately the defense effort of which it is capable. But European unity is stymied and domestic politics has almost everywhere dominated security policy. The result is a massive frustration which expresses itself in special testiness toward the United States. (Henry Kissinger, 1969) ¹ 1 Henry A. Kissinger, American Foreign Policy: Three Essays, New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1969, p. 69. ¹The author is grateful to several anonymous reviewers for valuable comments on a previous draft.      

北约东扩背景下的俄罗斯与波罗的海三国

本文首先分析了北约东扩因素对俄罗斯与波罗的海三国关系的影响;立陶宛、拉脱维亚和爱沙尼亚积极准备加入北约,俄则强烈反对.在对三国、俄罗斯和西方的政策、立场进行对比分析的基础上,本文认为三国在2002年被北约接纳的可能性有两种,一种可能是立陶宛率先加入北约,拉脱维亚和爱沙尼亚稍晚加入,第二种可能是三国都不会接到北约的邀请,但它们终究会加入北约.其次,本文分析了俄罗斯与波罗的海三国关系中的其他主要问题,即讲俄语居民的地位问题、边界问题和经济合作问题等.再次,本文归纳出俄罗斯对波罗的海三国的战略目标,即在鼓励地区经济一体化和双边经济合作、安全不可分、尊重少数民族权利的基础上,同三国实现睦邻友好,建立起建设性的国家关系模式.最后,本文勾勒了俄与三国关系的未来发展方向:俄罗斯与波罗的海三国的关系将长期处于相互磨合碰撞之中,实现与三国,尤其是与拉脱维亚和爱沙尼亚睦邻友好、相互合作的道路仍然艰难而漫长.     

北约介入阿富汗战争前景浅析

北约介入阿富汗战争是其走出地区实践全球化职能的一次大规模行动。北约联军现已深陷阿富汗战争泥潭,急欲寻找出路。然而,尽管北约成员国正按盟主美国的退出战略积极行动,试图采用政治、经济、军事手段并举的方式,在完成战略安排后从阿富汗全身而退,但阿富汗问题已经积重难返,不可能在短期内解决。北约联军在阿富汗的民心取向、阿富汗政府的治理能力、阿富汗安全部队的素质,以及北约在阿富汗的撤军时间表及相关的过渡性安排,均存在不利因素或不确定因素,这使得北约联军的阿富汗战争将无取胜可能,只是争取体面撤军问题。     

评"新欧洲"、"老欧洲"论

美国国防部长拉姆斯菲尔德在伊拉克战争爆发之际抛出了“新老欧洲”之说,把反对美国对伊战争的法、德等国称为“过时”的“老欧洲”,把支持美对伊开战的波兰、匈牙利、捷克等东欧国家称为代表欧洲未来的“新欧洲”。其意图是分化、分裂欧洲,以便分而治之。但欧洲联合和走一体化之路是历史潮流,美国的图谋难以得逞。     

Review article: Realising realism's role in us policy towards Europe

Adam Bronstone, European Union ‐ United States Security Relations. Transatlantic Tensions and the Theory of International Relations. Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1997. Pp.viii + 282, biblio., index. £45. ISBN 0–333–69136–9.

Robert L. Hutchings, American Diplomacy and the End of the Cold War. An Insider's Account of US Policy in Europe, 1989–1992. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1997. Pp.xx + 456, illus., biblio., index. £33. ISBN 0–8018–5620–5.

Thomas Risse‐Kappen, Cooperation Among Democracies. The European Influence on US Foreign Policy. Princeton: Princeton University Press 1995. Pp.x + 250, biblio., index. £30.50. ISBN 0–6910–3644–6.     

Weapons as political symbolism: the role of US tactical nuclear weapons in Europe

This study evaluates the role of tactical nuclear weapons (TNWs) for NATO today. Historically, TNWs fulfill five objectives. First, they provide a deterrent by denial capability. Second, TNWs serve to deter TNWs by other countries. Third, as the most ‘useable’ of nuclear weapons, they offer militaries solutions to a small target set of hardened targets. Fourth, they bridge the interface between nuclear and conventional forces, maintaining linkage up the ladder of escalation. Fifth, they serve as a powerful political symbol of an extended deterrent commitment. While the perception is that their utility for NATO in plausible European contingencies is low, we argue that there is variation in the political and military roles of TNWs. We submit that, in general, the first role has lost its significance but the other objectives remain relevant to NATO's present political circumstances, especially as a symbol of the transatlantic relationship and as a safeguard against Russian belligerence. Accordingly, TNWs remain a significant part of NATO's capabilities and should remain deployed in Europe.     

Separable but not separate forces: NATO's development of the combined joint task force

This article argues that the Combined Joint Task Force has profoundly affected the European security architecture. The CJTF structure shifted the terms of the European security debate from whether NATO should have a role in the post‐Cold War world to how NATO should act in this new security environment. The CJTF therefore helped NATO to survive its post‐Cold War existential dilemma, and to emerge with the same level of cohesion and cooperation that it possessed during the Cold War.     

冷战结束后北约对独联体地区的扩张及其前景

冷战结束后,北约为实现向外扩张的战略目标,不仅蚕食了原苏东国家,还不断强化对独联体的渗透,并以乌克兰、格鲁吉亚为切入点,东扩目标直指独联体。北约此举引发俄罗斯的强力反弹,俄采取了援助关系密切国家、打压与俄离心国家,以能源诱压"西靠"国家等手段牵制北约渗透。未来,俄将会进一步强化对"战略利益区"的控制,北约也不会放弃向独联体扩张的战略意图。俄罗斯与北约在独联体地区的争夺将更趋激烈和复杂化。     

Soft Security Threats in the New Europe: The Case of the Balkan Region

‘You cannot have a process where Balkan countries pretend to reform and we pretend to believe them.’

Chris Patten, EU Commissioner in charge of External Relations BBC World News, 25 November, 2002

Southeastern Europe represents for Europe a significant geo-strategic and geopolitical region whose stability and security directly affects Europe’s political and security infrastructure. Conflicts and instability are still prevalent in the Balkans and, as a consequence, security cooperation in Europe is struggling to cope with risks of a non-military nature. It is widely accepted that as a region, the Balkans at the dawn of the 21^st century remains weak and unable to deal efficiently with soft security threats. This article initially provides a generic picture of the Balkans and the hard security challenges prevalent there. It also aims to identify and assess the main types of new security threats that are currently present in the region, as well as to explore how these threats would be influenced by EU and NATO membership. The article also outlines the cooperative security measures adopted by the southeastern European countries, and it concludes by providing some thoughts on how the future developments in the region will be influenced by current international developments     

"3·11"后欧洲反恐新动向

3月11日,西班牙马德里发生连环爆炸案,造成了2 0 0多人遇难、千余人受伤的惨剧,被称作是欧洲的“9·11”。这一事件使整个欧洲为之震撼,激起了欧洲各界对恐怖主义威胁的重新评估,加速了欧盟内部的反恐合作进程,并在一定程度上改变了欧洲的政治格局,引发了欧美关系的微妙变化。“3·11”爆炸发生后,欧洲人开始重新定位欧洲所面临的恐怖主义威胁,并得出对全球恐怖主义特征的新判断。首先,欧洲人已将马德里“3·11事件”看作是欧洲历史上从未有过的大规模恐怖袭击,事件意味着欧洲大陆呈现出了“全新的欧洲恐怖主义活动图景”①,国际恐怖主义已…     

Views of China and Europe on the New Order of the World

The 7^th Sino-German Security Dialogue Seminar is focused on ＂China, Europe and a new world order＂. Our discussions should include the world order in general, as well as in-depth exchanges on specific issues in the area of international relations that both countries deem important. I want to get to the point directly by stating a basic point： although many factors in the international politics continue to change, as old challenges still exist and new challenges keep cropping up, there still remains a cornerstone for the world order, which is the Unites Nations. This is a starting point very close to the real politics： we must advance the international politics within current structure, and I would like to stress that such international politics must be international politics for peace.