Summary
Ko Colijn
Van 'Plenty of Nothing' naar 'I Will Survive' - bij de zestigste verjaardag van een bondgenootschap
Ko Colijn elaborates on the state of the Atlantic Alliance. While NATO's 60 years' history is full of crises and internal disputes, it is equally true that the Alliance has demonstrated an enviable capacity to survive. Although the 'old style' NATO proved successful in the Cold War, it should be admitted that even in the pre-1989 period the Alliance was tormented by serious problems. Some of them remained, others disappeared with the end of the Cold War, and were replaced by new ones, such as NATO's enlargement with ten former Warsaw Pact states making a demand of the Alliance's absorbent capacity; and American frustrations with the organisational bureaucracy of NATO operation Allied Forc. The author present a random picture of the current discussions within the Alliance that may culminate into conflict: further enlargement; European missile defence, the fundamental discussions on the scope of Article 5 of the Washington Treaty and on that of a Global Partner programme; the 'cost lie where they fall' problem; and, last but not least, the relationship between NATO and the European Union. Whereas all these discussions create serious tension within the Alliance, it is NATO's ISAF mission in Afghanistan where the problems, doubts and scepticism concerning the Alliance are driven home. ISAF, called a litmus test for NATO's future raison d'être, might even reveal a paradoxical dilemma: are missions for the protection of the institution, or are institutions (still) for the missions?