LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Summer 2007

by Roberta Pinotti

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Sir,

Security policy can nowadays be conceptualised as a continuum which incorporates both external and internal security issues, rather than considering them as distinct from each other. International events and supranational decision-making processes can therefore no longer be neatly compartmentalised within one security policy sector or another. In this context − and for some time now − neither NATO nor the European Union has restricted its security operations to defined geographical areas.

NATO and the EU represent two complementary approaches to security, both of which are pivotal for the future of Europe. NATO has proven its ability to fulfil its designated defence functions and to adapt to fresh security challenges. It remains a pillar of our collective and common security policies, provides a political arena for discussion of strategic choices, and links the US and Europe in the face of shared global threats. The EU, meanwhile, has been taking an increasingly important role as an independent military actor on the new multi-polar security stage, and one that is able to operate outside the structures of the transatlantic alliance. The EU is also better at “soft security”, which employs civic resources, as an alternative to the “hard power” of NATO’s military strength.

Nevertheless, NATO’s cumulative experience at the operational level means that it remains the most effective multinational forum for security planning. It is also the focus for crucial questions about the relationship between the two organisations’ overlapping forces, i.e. the EU’s Battlegroups and NATO’s Response Force. Problems over the definition of their respective roles and potential competition for common military resources can only be resolved at a political level.

To assure the future of both organisations, we should be careful to avoid establishing any hierarchy between them or trying to delimit their geographical boundaries of actions. Instead, we need to rationalise the means and mechanisms of cooperation, so that when necessary these military forces can work together effectively. Last but not least, it is up to European governments to implement more far-sighted security policies. Italy strongly believes in multilateralism and can play an important role in future global security, even without a permanent seat on the UN Security Council.