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NATO's New Mission Statement: Win the War in Afghanistan, Court China
According to NATO's new mission statement, NATO must win the war against Afgahnistan, have closer ties with Russia and China, counter the nuclear threat from Iran and provide security to its 28 member nations.
As a military alliance, NATO dates back to 1949 when the original charter was signed. The original member states agreed to mutual defence if there was an attack of a member nation. The initial unstated aim was to keep Germany down, the U.S. in and the Soviet Union out.
At the height of the Cold War, an Army Group was deployed in Europe (primarily Germany) as a deterrent to a Soviet attack. After the Soviet Union collapsed, NATO has been deployed to Bosnia and recently oustide of Europe into Afghanistan.
Although there was no agression from the former Yugoslavia, instability in the Balkans, threatened the rest of Europe. Afghanistan would also have been a lose interpretation of an attack on a member country.
With this background in mind, the United States has suggested that NATO should have a much larger international role. Europeans want to maintain its defensive focus.
Former Secretary of State Madelaine Albright said "NATO must be versatile and efficient enough to operate far from home, in order to sustain the political will for operations outside its area, NATO must see that all its members are reassured about the security of their home territories." Albright was head of a team that formulated the mission statement. Many of the NATO members have a defence budget well below the 2% of GDP guidelines. As a comparison the latest US defence budget amount to $710 Billion, while the combined budgbet of America's European allies amounts to $280 Billion.
NATO's New Mission Statement: Win the War in ...