----- Original Message ----- From: Miroslav Antic <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: SNN <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; BALKAN <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; SIEM NEWS <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Cc: STOPNATO <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Saturday, December 09, 2000 12:29 AM Subject: Gloves Come Off in U.S.-EU Defense Dialogue [STOPNATO.ORG.UK] STOP NATO: NO PASARAN! - HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK Gloves Come Off in U.S.-EU Defense Dialogue Tomas Valasek, Senior Analyst, [EMAIL PROTECTED] It is not common for a U.S. official to publicly chastise European leaders, even less so to do it just as they assemble at a potentially historic summit of the European Union (EU). Yet Secretary of Defense William Cohen did just that this week, warning EU leaders that their plans for a European Security and Defense Policy (ESDP) could make NATO "a relic of the past." The United States, of course, knew of European plans all along. It has worked with Europe to make sure the transition to ESDP will not upset ties with Washington and sideline non-EU members of NATO in Europe. But as the EU moves from broad brush strokes to detailing its military plans, Brussels appears to be headed in a direction different from the one envisioned in Washington. With only days left before an EU summit in Nice, France, which is set to finalize many aspects of the EU's defense policy, Secretary Cohen sent out a distress call. ESDP was conceived in 1998. At a series of meetings in Germany, Finland, and Portugal over the following two years, EU officials agreed to coordinate their security and defense policies and to build a 60,000-strong European Rapid Reaction Force. The United States, initially skeptical about European plans, gave its approval after seeing potential benefits of ESDP to NATO. But deep philosophical differences still divide the allies. To Washington, ESDP represents the best chance in years to boost European NATO members' military capabilities. In the alliance's last two operations, in Bosnia and in Kosovo, U.S. forces carried out the vast majority of the combat missions. If the Europeans do build the forces envisioned by the ESDP agreements, Washington reasons, NATO itself will grow stronger. But the U.S. view is simply unrealistic. To Europe, ESDP's significance goes far beyond NATO or force goals. Its value is primarily symbolic: ESDP represents a coming-of-age for the European Union, its assertion of autonomy over military affairs and an evolution of the EU into a world player in its own right. Because ESDP is mainly an identity symbol there will always be a temptation among European countries to keep it separate from NATO. Hence the French repeatedly use the word "autonomous" when referring to ESDP, and French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin omits of the NATO cooperation clauses from public speeches. But the United States need not fear ESDP. Most European countries also recognize that too much separation between NATO and the EU could potentially be dangerous. When the need comes, NATO and the EU may not be able to fight together. If they grow too far apart, they may also end up fighting each other. For those reasons, many in Europe will always push for close EU-NATO institutional ties. The UK government, for one, dismissed any notion of a "European army" emerging on the continent. The challenge before Washington is to appeal to the latter group without appearing to oppose ESDP altogether, which would only hasten a EU-US rift. Secretary Cohen identified defense planning as one area in which NATO and Europe should continue to work together. Joint defense planning -- the process of creating the forces needed to carry out assigned military tasks and dividing the responsibilities among allies -- is an absolute must from Washington's perspective. Should Europe choose a separate planning process, there is no guarantee that the forces it develops in the future will be compatible with NATO or meet the alliance's needs. The main benefit of ESDP to NATO will have been lost. A European diplomat told CDI that the Nice summit is most likely to produce a compromise: defense planning under EU auspices but with NATO present "at the table" and consulted at all times. The process would involve representatives from European NATO allies who are not members of the EU, as they and the United States have demanded. The U.S.-European dispute over planning will probably be put to rest. But as Europe proceeds to finalize its defense plans, expect more crises ahead. Miroslav Antic, http://www.antic.org/SNN/ ______________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Special offer from Palo Alto Software, The Planning People Kick start your business with Business Plan Pro. For a limited time bCentral.com users can receive a free copy of Cash Plan Pro with every order of Business Plan Pro. http://www.bcentral.com/listbot/paloalto
