Hassan Tahsin, hassan_tahsin@hotmail.com

The 44th European security conference in Munich last month concluded with a pressing call to bring about an atmosphere of creative and constructive debate in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

While the motto of the latest conference was “A World in Disarray — Shifting Powers — Lack of Strategies,” the conference ended, apparently, leaving the world wondering if the conference has succeeded in ending the disarray within the NATO, let alone bringing security to the rest of the world.

A close scrutiny of the deliberations at the conference gave the foreboding that the NATO was on the fast track to its dissolution. That is, if the United States did not stop imposing its whims on the European members.

The Munich Conference on Security Policy (German Münchner Konferenz für Sicherheitspolitik) is an annual conference on international policy, held in the Hotel Bayerischer Hof in Munich, Germany. The conference was founded in 1962 by German publisher Ewald-Heinrich von Kleist-Schmenzin under the title Wehrkundetagung. Each year, some 250 participants from 40 countries present their views on the development of trans-Atlantic relations as well as European and global security.

The participants in the conference included US Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Russia’s First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov and Cabinet-level officials from various countries.

The focus on a general strategy debate at the beginning of the conference quickly shifted to the relevance of continued engagement of the international community in Afghanistan including the role of the NATO. The US lashed out at some members, particularly Germany, saying they lacked commitment in the Afghanistan war. German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung, had emphatically fended off all criticism of Germany’s role in Afghanistan.

Apparently to cool down the miffed German side, Robert Gates condescended to say at one point that he did not point a finger at Germany at all, explaining that the request for more commitment in Afghanistan had been issued to all the members of the trans-Atlantic alliance. However, the US defense secretary warned of a rift developing within NATO if the row over burden sharing in Afghanistan went on. He said that some allies ought not to have the luxury of opting only for stability and civilian operations, thus forcing other allies to bear a disproportionate share of the fighting and dying.

Meanwhile, there are growing indications of a change in NATO’s strategy in Afghanistan.

The failure of the US-led NATO forces in making any headway in Afghanistan had prompted French Defense Minister Herve Morin to declare that the problem of reconstructing Afghanistan could not be resolved purely by military means.

Other issues that threatened the unity of NATO are the dispute over the future of Kosovo. While the US supported the independence of Kosovo, Serbia strongly opposed it with the support of Russians. Russia strongly opposes the US project for installing a missile defense system in the Eastern Europe.

Robert Gates told the journalists while flying to Munich, “A defeat in Afghanistan would pose a great security threat to Europe.” But one wonders how could the security of Europe hinge on the American victory in Afghanistan.

A recent report published in Washington said the situation in Afghanistan has sunk to its worst phase since the American forces landed there. Meanwhile, the Germans are not happy with the American style of military operations in Afghanistan. A recent opinion poll showed that more than 60 percent of the Germans were in favor of total military pullout from Afghanistan.

My impression of the conference is that it failed to do anything to guarantee international security and peace and could not abort the US designs to continue its blind wars against defenseless civilians.

Their losses in the Afghan war resulting from the NATO’s failure to make any progress have prompted the Europeans to review their involvement in the war. The NATO failure would also mean the failure of the changed policy of NATO after the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact.

Source: Arab News