North Atlantic Treaty Organization
Allied Command Transformation
June 26, 2013
NATO Partner Sweden Hosts 2013 Strategic Military Partner Discussions on Alliance Future
Written by US Navy Reserve Officer, Commander Steve Zip
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Currently, there are 41 countries that partner with NATO through a series of frameworks: the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council, the Mediterranean Dialogue, the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative and many other bilateral agreements across the globe. Host nation Sweden provides an example of the long-term value of NATO partnership.
In Afghanistan, for example, of the 50 contributing nations, 24 are non-NATO members. The momentum for this collaboration is vital to the future capabilities of NATO as it shifts to a contingency posture.
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Amidst long sunny days of the Scandinavian summer, 55 NATO allies and partner nations from as far away as New Zealand gathered in Stockholm, Sweden to discuss the future security environment and share ideas.
A key theme of this Strategic Military Partner Conference (SMPC) that kicked off June 25 is that the complexity of the global security environment requires an evolution of cooperation between NATO members and their many partners. The continued success of NATO’s Partnership for Peace (PfP) program – first started 1994 – is very important to alliance members as evidenced by the high level priority given to organising the annual SMPC event.
Partner nations were well represented to dialogue and give their input during this event hosted by PfP partner Sweden. “Partners are security providers that add to NATO output, and also provide unique expertise in many of the challenges that lay ahead of us,” said General Sverker Göranson, Supreme Commander Swedish Armed Forces,
NATO and partner nations live in the same increasingly complex world with more and different challenges along with emerging threats such as: ballistic missiles, energy security, access to the global commons [i.e. space], proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, terrorism and most recently cyber-attacks.
Given the pressure on today’s defence budgets, leveraging the intellectual capital of both allies and partners can help them better address these threats. “A true and enduring partnership must be a win-win relationship…I believe that Allies and Partners are more than ever united by the common nature of emerging strategic challenges which in turn will help them improve their military efficiency, through interoperability,” said General Jean-Paul Paloméros, Supreme Allied Commander Transformation.
Currently, there are 41 countries that partner with NATO through a series of frameworks: the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council, the Mediterranean Dialogue, the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative and many other bilateral agreements across the globe. Host nation Sweden provides an example of the long-term value of NATO partnership. “The transformation of the Swedish Armed Forces during the last 20 years would not have been possible without Sweden’s partnership with NATO and our active participation in the EU. Our partnership with NATO has been valuable when it comes to building capabilities, including reaching the required standards. Not only the Planning and Review process, but also for example NATO evaluation tools have been and are of utmost important to us,” said General Göranson.
With regard to operations, the support of NATO partners cannot be understated. In Afghanistan, for example, of the 50 contributing nations, 24 are non-NATO members. The momentum for this collaboration is vital to the future capabilities of NATO as it shifts to a contingency posture. “With the end of ISAF, our operational tempo is likely to decrease for now. This means that we will need to shift our emphasis from operational engagement to operational readiness – from a ‘deployed’ NATO to a posture of a ‘prepared’ NATO…partners will need to be part of this shift,” said Mr. Patrick Auroy, the Alliance’s Assistant Secretary General for Defense Investment (ASG DI).
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