North Atlantic Treaty Organization
October 30, 2014
Multilateral security cooperation: ”From conflict to cooperation”
Opening remarks by NATO Deputy Secretary General Alexander Vershbow at the Seoul Defense Dialogue, Seoul, Republic of Korea
[Edited]
Thank you to Defense Minister Han Min-koo for inviting me to the Seoul Defense Dialogue.
It is always a particular pleasure to return to the city that was my home for three very happy years, and to see so many familiar faces. It’s also very exciting to see that, in the six years since I completed my term as U.S. Ambassador, the Republic of Korea…
Now, for the last couple of years, my home has been in Brussels, at NATO Headquarters. This is my third time serving at NATO. I keep coming back because NATO is the most successful alliance in the world…
…NATO had to grow and adapt to reflect that new world. Our vital interests were no longer restricted by our own borders. If we were to defend our interests, NATO needed to look outwards, beyond those borders.
This second phase of NATO’s history has been defined by the success of cooperative security. NATO has established a unique global network of partner countries…NATO operations in Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan and several other places have shown what NATO can achieve when working with its partners.
But now we are entering a third phase. Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, its illegal annexation of Crimea, and its intimidation of neighboring countries, including members of NATO, have forced a re-evaluation of NATO’s focus – as has the horrific barbarism of the terrorists known as ISIL in Syria and Iraq, right on the border of Turkey, one of the oldest NATO Allies. Collective defense is well and truly back on the agenda.
At our recent Summit in Wales, NATO leaders agreed on a more visible presence in the eastern members of the Alliance, with more and larger exercises and a new very high-readiness Spearhead Force able to respond to a threat of aggression in a matter of days. Allies also agreed NATO should be prepared to play its part in the international effort to stop the advance of ISIL, including by supporting our partner Iraq to strengthen its defense capacity. And – importantly – at the Summit, Allied leaders agreed to end the years of cuts in defense spending, with every nation making a commitment to move towards spending at least 2% of GDP on defense over the next decade, and devoting at least 20% of that to modern equipment and technology.
But going ”back to basics” doesn’t mean that NATO is turning inward or becoming Russo-centric. While NATO’s response to Russian aggression and the challenge of ISIL dominates the headlines, the Alliance at Wales also reaffirmed our commitment to cooperative security. Wales was the largest summit NATO has ever held. Along with the 28 members of the Alliance, we were joined by a further 49 partner countries as well as representatives of the European Union and other international organizations.
For NATO’s partners, the Summit was about making firm decisions and delivering concrete action to deepen our cooperation. A prime example of this is the Partnership Interoperability Initiative. After our combat mission in Afghanistan winds down at the end of the year, we need to preserve and strengthen the ability of NATO and partner forces to operate together so that we remain able to tackle new challenges together. That is what this initiative seeks to achieve with 24 partner countries from around the world, the Republic of Korea among them.
Through the Partnership Interoperability Initiative, we will increase the numbers and scale of joint exercises, and improve education and training. We will also reinforce the OCC – the Operational Capabilities Concept – to give partners greater access to NATO’s common standards and assessments (which are often called the “gold standard” for interoperability and readiness). And we have committed to strengthening our relationships with all those countries who wish to become more interoperable through a new, permanent format for political dialogue and cooperation: The Interoperability Platform. Korea – along with our other Asia-Pacific partners – is a founding member.
And for those who already have particularly broad and deep relations with NATO, we offer tailor-made “enhanced opportunities”— with more political consultations, earlier access to exercises, training, and participation in defense planning. The first nations to take part will be Australia, Finland, Georgia, Jordan and Sweden, but others will be very welcome.
This is a first: the first standing consultative forum dedicated to interoperability; and by far the greatest opportunity for cooperation and dialogue for those who wish to be an enhanced opportunity partner.
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Afghanistan has been a catalyst for closer partnership over the last decade, especially with countries that are located far beyond NATO’s borders…
The Republic of Korea made a truly outstanding contribution to ISAF…
Korea can be proud of what it has done in Afghanistan and NATO is proud to call Korea a partner.
Beyond Afghanistan, Asia matters a great deal to NATO. How can it not? Asia is home to nearly half of the world’s population and over half of the world’s trade. Two of NATO’s Allies are Asia-Pacific nations – Canada and my own country, the United States…
With the Republic of Korea, beyond our initial engagement in Afghanistan, we have worked together in counter-piracy operations in the Indian Ocean. We have agreed a formal partnership agreement, with clear mid- and long-term objectives. And only yesterday we held the seventh round of our annual policy consultations.
NATO is committed to long-term engagement with the Republic of Korea and with all of Asia, to making that engagement both political and practical. Improving maritime security is a key area for future practical cooperation. But we also wish to continue our political dialogue, including through events such as this one, the Shangri-La Dialogue and the Jakarta Defense Dialogue.
I commend the Republic of Korea for leading the discussion on Northeast Asian strategic issues in fora such as the Northeast Asia Peace and Cooperation Initiative Forum (NAPCI) and the Seoul Defense Dialogue. I believe that NATO, with its long experience and record of success in multinational defense and security cooperation, can add clear value to these discussions, and help promote the development of multinational security cooperation in this part of the world.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I see a bright future for the partnership between NATO and the Republic of Korea, as well as our other Asia-Pacific partners. By working together and forging a common understanding of where our interests coincide, we can shape decision-making, maximize our influence in world affairs, and promote the international rules-based order that has served our nations and our peoples so very well for such a very long time.
Thank you, once again, for this opportunity to kick-off this year’s Seoul Defense Dialogue. I hope the SDD becomes as well known as “Gangnam Style.”
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