Atlantic Council

From Stanley R. Sloan, the New Atlanticist:  Despite the Obama administration’s re-focusing US security commitments on Asia, we will need NATO after Afghanistan. . . .

The Obama administration has concluded that the main future security challenges to the United States are likely to originate in Asia, where we are concerned about an unpredictable nuclear-armed North Korea, the emerging power of China, tensions between India and Pakistan, and potential instabilities in other Asian nations.  In response, US forces are being repositioned in the Asia Pacific, including establishing a presence on the ground in Australia – the most reliable US ally in the region. 

Does this new strategic focus on Asia suggest that Europe and NATO have become less important to US interests?  Not necessarily.  While Europe has largely ceased to be a source of security threats, continued authoritarian posturing in Russia poses a risk to regional stability.  As social unrest stemming from the Euro crisis embroils Western Europe, an EU increasingly dependent on Russian energy for scarce economic growth is perhaps more vulnerable than many imagine. Moreover, continued US cooperation with European allies in NATO may be essential to force projection in the Middle East region, which unfortunately could be required to defend vital US interests. 

The main strategic value of America’s European allies, however, is in the capabilities that the Europeans bring to the table, as they did in the case of Libya.  Granted, European military resources have shrunk over the years, and the Libya “model” may or may not work for some other contingency.  But as European allies reallocate resources as part of their withdrawal from Afghanistan, it is in the interest of the United States that they do so in ways that enhance their ability to assist the United States in dealing with future security challenges.  NATO consultations can facilitate such an outcome. 

Moreover, given the US desire to play a lower profile role in maintaining international stability, taking into account the critical opinions of like-minded allies before launching ourselves into costly commitments (like yesterday’s in Iraq and tomorrow’s over Iran) should make an important contribution to US decision-making.  If US actions diminish the American commitment to the transatlantic alliance, it will weaken the trust and shared responsibility that today underwrite such constructive exchanges. 

The bottom line is that, while the European allies need to be more effective in allocating the limited financial resources available for defense, and while NATO is an imperfect framework for cooperation, there is no credible alternative.  The European Union will be fortunate in the near term to hold itself together, given the fiscal challenges it faces, and will have little political will or resources to take on greater responsibility for the European side of the transatlantic alliance.  

NATO leaders in Chicago need to ensure that whatever they do to adapt the alliance to the challenges posed by today’s economic conditions preserves the cooperation that undergirds collective responses to future threats to US and European interests.  That is certain to call for a continuing US military presence in Europe – not to defend the Europeans, but to sustain the framework for collaboration.  The decisions taken in Chicago will determine how the alliance moves beyond the war in Afghanistan, into a future undoubtedly filled with new challenges that call for collective responses.    

Stanley R. Sloan is a visiting scholar at Middlebury College and consultant to the Center for Transatlantic Security Studies at the National Defense University.  His most recent book is Permanent Alliance?  NATO and the Transatlantic Bargain from Truman to Obama (Continuum, 2010).