NATO Isn’t Just a One-Way Street for the United States

Why does the United States need NATO? Why not go it alone? The answer is that even a superpower needs allies to be successful in upholding its interests in the wider world.

Without NATO, the United States could not have peacefully overcome its Cold War confrontation with the Soviet Union. In the recent Kosovo conflict, U.S. air power was the decisive factor. Yet it would not have been effective without the use of Italian, German, British, Turkish and Hungarian air bases and the airspace made available by NATO allies and partner nations. Nor could U.S. and NATO troops have been ready to deploy in Kosovo without the use of the Greek port at Thessaloniki.

In short, the U.S. can only bring its enormous power to bear because it can depend on a network of allies such as are found within NATO. To use a military phrase, NATO is a “force multiplier.” Increasingly, Canada and the European allies bring real resources, real troops and real commitment to the common-security table. In Kosovo, European nations are providing 80% of all the forces for the KFOR peacekeeping force, with the largest troop contributor being Italy. Out of an allied force of about 45,000 troops, the U.S. now provides 6,000.

European nations are, as they promised, picking up the lion’s share of reconstruction efforts in the Balkans. The European Union has provided about $16.5 billion to this region since 1991 and has budgeted nearly $12 billion for the next six years. Although the U.S. is the single largest provider of troops for the international police force in Kosovo, at roughly 15%, the EU countries provide 40%.

Yet this increased “burden sharing” must go further. Europe is rich enough to do more. It is no longer tenable that 10 allies agree on an air operation like Kosovo, but the United States does 80% of the work. Europe must have the capability to take the lead in handling crises when the United States chooses not be engaged. In the 21st century, we cannot be faced with a choice between massive U.S. involvement or no action at all.

Bluntly, this means the European allies must improve their defense capabilities. We are, however, already seeing action. The EU has set itself the goal of establishing a robust, deployable military capability by 2003. This complements NATO’s defense capabilities initiative, agreed to a year ago, which also will lead to significant improvements in capabilities on both sides of the Atlantic.

NATO is ready to provide some of its assets and capabilities to support the EU, because a strong Europe does not mean less from the United States, but rather a stronger alliance. And as Europe pulls more weight, Washington will be more inclined to stay engaged because it has a real partner, in bad times as well as good. As secretary-general of NATO, my job is to get the European NATO nations to put their money behind their rhetoric and deliver on capabilities.

The rejiggering of roles will better reflect the balance between the U.S. and Europe in the economic sphere. The EU is the No. 1 trading partner and the No. 1 investor in the U.S. The reverse also is true.

The ultimate reason why 51-year-old NATO should still matter to the U.S., even in the very different world of today, is that Europe and North America share the same values. NATO is an unprecedented community of nations that all believe in liberty, democracy and human rights. And they are willing to take action to defend those beliefs.

Shared values may seem an abstract notion. Yet, in the end, it is these values more than anything else that brought us together in two world wars and that enabled us to overcome the many crises of the Cold War and beyond.

Only last year, in the name of these values, we successfully tackled the challenge of Kosovo, where a cruel dictator was killing thousands and driving hundreds of thousands from their homes. Today, perhaps more than ever, we understand that economic prosperity and social progress are based on our shared democratic values.

That is why American and European allies have to stay the course together. In the past, NATO was about what the U.S. could do for Europe. Today, NATO is about what the U.S. can do with Europe.

Through the NATO alliance, the U.S. has the strongest possible economic and political partner for meeting the challenges of the new century.