By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service
ABOARD A U.S. MILITARY AIRCRAFT, May 22, 2014 – The world
has changed and because of it, protecting NATO’s eastern and southern flanks
has to be a priority, Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey said today at the end of the
NATO Chiefs of Defense Meeting in Brussels.
The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said he has
attended many NATO meetings and this was, by far, the most interesting, with
many of his fellow chiefs of staff joining in the discussion.
The chiefs are preparing their best military advice to
present to their civilian leaders in advance of the September 3-4 NATO Summit
in Wales.
With the winding down of operations in Afghanistan and
Russia’s annexation of Crimea and threats to Ukraine, NATO may be at an
inflection point, Dempsey said.
Much has changed since the Chicago Summit two years ago.
Then, the alliance was concerned with how to responsibly end the war in
Afghanistan and how to maintain military capabilities despite declining
budgets.
“This summit will focus on the changing security environment
related to Russia’s activities as well as the inherent instability that is now
at least the near-term outcome of the Arab Spring in the Middle East and North
Africa,” Dempsey said in an interview as he flew back to Washington.
On the eastern flank the threat comes from Russia acting in
what Dempsey described as a dangerous and provocative manner. The southern
flank is different. “Dealing with the threats and influences that are emanating
out of the Middle East and North Africa into NATO’s southern flank requires
more than just the military instrument of power,” he said. “It requires
cooperation with law enforcement, public diplomacy, border control, customs,
and that’s not something that comes naturally to NATO.”
Terrorism, criminal networks, drug trafficking, and human
trafficking are just some of the problems on NATO’s southern flank.
The United States and NATO have been very successful in
suppressing al-Qaida elements in Afghanistan and Pakistan, Dempsey said. “But
the al-Qaida ideology has adapted and has decentralized,” he added.
At the same time, the Arab Spring is creating political
instability in North Africa and the Middle East with
al-Qaida taking advantage of the instability.
“Now you find these groups are spread across an arc that
runs roughly from Pakistan across the Arabian Peninsula, across the Middle East
and North Africa and all the way down into Nigeria with Boko Haram,” Dempsey
said.
The southern flank will require different tools, Dempsey
said. The chiefs talked about speaking with the European Union. “They actually
have the mandate to do things like build partner capacity, law enforcement,
customs and border controls and so forth,” the chairman said.
The alliance needs to maintain the ability to do out-of-area
operations, “but we also have to realize something has changed close to home --
the eastern flank and southern flank -- and that requires us to refocus on the
threats that are real,” Dempsey said.
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