By Cheryl Pellerin
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, May 2, 2014 – At a Wilson Center forum here this
morning on NATO’s 21st-century security challenges, Defense Secretary Chuck
Hagel called for the creation of a new NATO ministerial meeting focused on
defense investment that includes finance ministers or senior budget officials.
Hagel’s proposal builds on President Barack Obama's March 26
speech in Brussels, and Atlantic Council statements earlier this week by Vice
President Joe Biden and Secretary of State John F. Kerry urging every
NATO-member state to meet its commitment to the alliance.
Holding such a ministerial meeting would allow finance
ministers or senior budget officials “to receive detailed briefings from
alliance military leaders on the challenges we face,” Hagel said.
“Leaders across our governments must understand the
consequences of current trends in reduced defense spending,” he added, “and
help break through the fiscal impasse.”
Since the end of the Cold War, America’s military spending
has become increasingly disproportionate within the alliance, the secretary
said. Today, America’s gross domestic product is smaller than the combined GDPs
of the 27 NATO allies, but America’s defense spending is three times its
allies’ combined defense spending, he added.
Over time, such a lopsided burden threatens NATO’s
integrity, cohesion and capability, the secretary said, and ultimately, it
affects European and transatlantic security.
“Many of NATO’s smaller members have pledged to increase
their defense investment, and earlier this week at the Pentagon, I thanked
Estonia’s defense minister for his nation’s renewed commitment and investment
in NATO,” Hagel told the audience.
“But the alliance cannot afford for Europe’s larger
economies and most militarily capable allies not to do the same, particularly
as transatlantic economies grow stronger,” he said. “We must see renewed
financial commitments from all NATO members.”
Russia’s actions in Ukraine have made NATO’s value
abundantly clear, the secretary said, adding that he knows from frequent
conversations with NATO defense ministers that they need no convincing.
“Talking amongst ourselves is no longer good enough,” Hagel
said. “Having participated in three NATO defense ministerials and having met
with all of my NATO counterparts, I have come away recognizing that the
challenge is building support for defense investment across our governments,
not just in our defense ministries.”
Defense investment must be discussed in the broader context
of member nations’ overall fiscal challenges and priorities, he added.
In meeting its global security commitments, the United
States must have strong, committed and capable allies, and this year’s
Quadrennial Defense Review makes this clear, the secretary said. Going forward,
the Defense Department will seek and increasingly rely on closer integration
and collaboration with allies, and in ways that will influence U.S. strategic
planning and future investments, Hagel said.
From the early days of the Cold War, American defense
secretaries have called on European allies to ramp up their defense investment,
he noted. In recent years, one of the biggest obstacles to alliance investment
has been a sense that the end of the Cold War ushered in an end to insecurity,
at least in Europe, from aggression by nation states, the secretary said.
“Russia’s actions in Ukraine shatter that myth and usher in
bracing new realities. Even a united and deeply interconnected Europe still
lives in a dangerous world,” Hagel said.
“In the short term, the transatlantic alliance has responded
to Russian actions with strength and resolve,” he added. “But over the long
term, we should expect Russia to test our alliance’s purpose, stamina and
commitment. Future generations will note whether, at this moment of challenge,
we summoned the will to invest in our alliance.”
NATO should find creative ways to help nations around the
world adapt collective security to a rapidly evolving global strategic
landscape, the secretary said.
Collective security is not only the anchor of the
transatlantic alliance, he added, but also is a model for emerging security
institutions around the world, from Africa to the Persian Gulf to Southeast
Asia.
“I say this having just convened a forum of [Association of
Southeast Asian Nations] defense ministers last month,” Hagel said, “and having
called for a Gulf Cooperation Council defense ministerial this year.”
He added, “These institutions bring our people, interests
and economies closer together, serving as anchors for stability, security and
prosperity. Strengthening these regional security institutions must be a
centerpiece of America’s defense policy as we continue investing in NATO.”
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