NATO
is planning to host their annual conference next year in France and
Germany in the cities of Strasbourg and Baden-Baden. While the summit
itself will take place in Strasbourg, the “working dinners” of the
ministers of defence will be held in Baden-Baden, Germany, between
Karlsruhe and Kehl, around 50 kilometres from Strasbourg.
The summit will celebrate the 60th anniversary of this war alliance,
when the member states will discuss NATO’s new strategic direction. As
in 1999 large changes are planned.
In a strategy paper published in April 2007, five former generals
stress the need for a more “proactive approach”, in which the
preemption and prevention of threats are central. To the NATO
strategists an array of threats exist in today’s uncertain world, from
terrorism and transnational crime to unrests following food crises,
social conflicts as a result of climate change and extensive migration
to the countries of the NATO alliance. These
are all central security risks that fall within NATO’s remit. The paper
maintains that proper “defence” requires the concept of “homeland
security”, which entails a “comprehensive approach” of the military,
police, politics, research, academics and civil society and the
continued blurring of internal and external security to build up a
“global security architecture”.
