North Atlantic Treaty Organization
October 28, 2014
NAPCI: Solving the Asian Paradox
Remarks by NATO Deputy Secretary General Alexander Vershbow at the Northeast Asia Peace and Cooperation Initiative Forum, Seoul, Republic of Korea
[Edited]
It is a great pleasure to be in Seoul and a great honor to speak here at the first Forum of the Northeast Asia Peace and Cooperation Initiative. As you know, I served for three years as the U.S. Ambassador to Korea up until 2008…
In my capacity as a NATO official, I would like to start by noting that as one of NATO’s global partners, The Republic of Korea has made many valuable contributions to our shared security. You have contributed troops to the NATO-led mission in Afghanistan; you led one of the most effective Provincial Reconstruction teams in Parwan, and are now running an important medical hospital there…Korea has complemented NATO’s counter-piracy efforts as well, providing naval escorts to merchant vessels passing through the waters off the Horn of Africa…And I offer a sincere gamsahamnida (thank-you) for that strong commitment, from NATO and all 28 Allies.
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Today I would like to give you my perspective on the lessons I’ve learned through multilateral cooperation – with some perspectives from my time in Seoul, in Washington, and in Brussels. And I believe that two examples may hold particularly useful lessons for NAPCI.
The first is NATO. You probably know that NATO is a regional security organization built upon the principle of collective defense. But NATO is also a community of shared values that fosters political cooperation to complement joint efforts on security issues.
Moreover, since the end of the Cold War, the Alliance has also become the hub of a global network of partners, including the Republic of Korea, as well as Japan, Australia, New Zealand and Mongolia. Our flagship partnership initiative, the Partnership for Peace, began in 1994…in Central and Eastern Europe to meet the difficult challenges of reform (and for some, to prepare for NATO membership).
Today, NATO has more than 50 partners all over the world. We have different regional formats like the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council, the Mediterranean Dialogue (with seven Middle East and North African states), and the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative (with four Gulf states). These allow NATO Allies and partners to come together and share views, identify areas of mutual interest, and cooperate on a practical level – whether on crisis management or energy security, cyber defense, interoperability, fighting corruption, or countering terrorism…
Russia is an example where cooperation with NATO has not led to the peace and security…Russia has left the path of cooperation in favor of confrontation and aggression…
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