| Publication |
2002.
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| Description |
117-132
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| Summary/Abstract |
NATO is embarking on a second round of enlargement while consolidating a promising new relationship with Russia. Yet these achievements have been overshadowed by growing concerns that the alliance is becoming irrelevant. At the heart of these concerns is a yawning gap in military capabilities between the United States and its European allies. The answer is not to rehash old complaints about European foot-dragging or American drum-beating. Rather, NATO should refocus its stalled Defence Capabilities Initiative (DCI) on using defence transformation to build a small ‘Spearhead Response Force’, that is, a European force capable of being a lead-element in assertive NATO efforts to cope with new threats. A new defence initiative will make little progress if it merely streamlines the NATO command structure and pursues a compressed list of DCI measures in unfocused ways. There must be a clear concentration on the specific forces to be used for new missions, which must be fully equipped with the necessary capabilities
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