NATO Plans a Special Force to Reassure Eastern Europe and Deter Russia
By STEVEN ERLANGER, JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS and STEPHEN CASTLE, NYT
SEPT. 5, 2014
NEWPORT, Wales — NATO struggled to find responses to new challenges as it concluded its summit meeting here on Friday, announcing limited steps to deter Russia in Eastern Europe and starting to marshal broader international support to confront radical Islamists in the Middle East.
The alliance said it would establish a rapid-reaction force with an essentially permanent presence in Eastern Europe and would enhance military cooperation with Ukraine.
But the limits of the alliance were visible, too. The United States and Britain used the meeting to try to advance their own emerging policies, especially toward the spread of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, while most members shied away from specific commitments to increase military spending.
The combination of crises — one on NATO’s borders with a resurgent Russia and the other involving a possible new terrorism threat from radical Islam — represents the first major challenge to NATO in a quarter of a century. Though many words were said about the need to “reinvigorate and refocus” the alliance, as the host, Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain put it, the summit meeting made only a small step toward doing so.
(More here.)
SEPT. 5, 2014
NEWPORT, Wales — NATO struggled to find responses to new challenges as it concluded its summit meeting here on Friday, announcing limited steps to deter Russia in Eastern Europe and starting to marshal broader international support to confront radical Islamists in the Middle East.
The alliance said it would establish a rapid-reaction force with an essentially permanent presence in Eastern Europe and would enhance military cooperation with Ukraine.
But the limits of the alliance were visible, too. The United States and Britain used the meeting to try to advance their own emerging policies, especially toward the spread of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, while most members shied away from specific commitments to increase military spending.
The combination of crises — one on NATO’s borders with a resurgent Russia and the other involving a possible new terrorism threat from radical Islam — represents the first major challenge to NATO in a quarter of a century. Though many words were said about the need to “reinvigorate and refocus” the alliance, as the host, Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain put it, the summit meeting made only a small step toward doing so.
(More here.)
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