“From Riga to Bucharest – NATO in Defense of our Common Security and Values” Speech at the Conference on “Europe at the Crossroads: Agenda from Riga to Bucharest” Riga, Latvia

It is a pleasure and honor for me to be at the Riga Conference and to address this distinguished group.

The timing of this conference is excellent, coming as it does almost one year after the Riga Summit and less than six months from NATO’s next summit in Bucharest.

I hope our gracious hosts will forgive me if I quibble a bit with the title “Europe at the Crossroads,” from the U.S. perspective, I would argue that there are no profound questions of TransAtlantic direction at this juncture. The big existential questions about NATO -- out-of-area operations, enlargement, transformation, partnerships – these questions at their core have been answered.

NATO is the most effective multilateral institution and most successful military alliance in history. Its nearly 60 year record has been marked by effective deterrence in the Cold War, bringing peace and stability to the Balkans in the 90s, and helping to spread democracy and prosperity through partnership and enlargement. In the past six years, the emphasis has been on transformation of the Alliance’s capabilities, and NATO’s increasingly global vocation. Europe has been as committed to this journey as North America. Read the Summit communiqués from Prague to Istanbul to Riga and you see a very clear continuum, a common way forward. We believe Bucharest will accelerate and broaden these trends.

In short, the Alliance has its orientation, but there are still meaningful decisions to make, commitments to fulfill, and measures to implement. The discussion now is how quickly we can move forward on our chosen path.

Today, I will briefly recap where we are since the November 2006 Riga Summit before tackling my primary objective: to lay out the U.S. agenda for the April Summit and our vision for advancing Alliance security at home and engagement abroad.

Riga: An Alliance that delivers

The last Summit in Riga celebrated an Alliance that is delivering 21st Century security and which defends our community of values.

On the political front, we succeeded in expanding what we call the NATO table for political dialogue. NATO today has become an expanded forum for discussing, for example, - Iraq, North Korea, energy security, missile defense, in a variety of flexible formats. Riga also launched global partnerships, reflecting a reality already achieved on the ground in our various operations, especially in Afghanistan, but also in the Balkans. Global partnerships ensure that NATO is able to work easily and effectively with nations that share our interests and want to address their concerns together with NATO.

On the operational side, Riga highlighted to a global audience that the process of transformation is underway. NATO has demonstrated, with Afghanistan as the centerpiece, that it can perform a full range of missions. Riga also identified areas where NATO could be more effective and prescribed an enhanced capacity to meet on-the-ground challenges through a focus on the right kinds of forces and technology, interoperability and multinational solutions. Additionally, the last Summit energized discussion of how to equip and prepare for emerging challenges related to the security of energy resources, and rogue missile threats.

Ten months later in October 2007, the Alliance stands strong and ready at a time when international security is driving discussions around the globe.

Bucharest: NATO : Providing Security at Home and Abroad

So what is the American agenda for Bucharest? Fundamentally, there are no surprises here. We want an Alliance that is even stronger politically, stronger operationally, and stronger as global security exporter.

We have grouped our goals into four “baskets” that reinforce an Alliance secure at home and engaged abroad.

Basket 1: NATO as an exporter of global peace and security

Sustaining our current operations through long-term commitment and investment is critical. A fundamentally more secure Afghanistan remains NATO’s top priority.

ISAF and the training of the Afghan National Security Forces continue to build momentum. And expanding security means that we have been able to help the Afghan government move forward on reconstruction and governance efforts.

We are effectively creating “breathing room” for Afghans to begin taking increased responsibility strategically and operationally, while reaffirming our long-term commitment to support their reconstruction and development efforts.

Afghanistan has put NATO’s capabilities in action to the test, with good results. Having said that, we need to reinvigorate our efforts to generate forces and key enablers such as helicopters. There is also more to do in the area of training of Afghan security forces which is critical to our long-term success in Afghanistan. We are also seeing ISAF commanders implement elements of the comprehensive approach, which links military operations, reconstruction, training and equipping of Afghan forces, counter- narcotics, to achieve mission success. All of this needs to be conveyed to our publics, who too often do not fully realize the multi-dimensional nature of our work in Afghanistan.

The security and well-being of the transatlantic community depends on our success in Afghanistan. The hopes of the Afghan people for a long-term stable, secure, more prosperous future depend on the assistance we can give them. We are producing solid results in Afghanistan and we ultimately will succeed.

The U.S. is also fully committed to our ongoing operations in the Balkans. We should look at how our operation in Iraq can broaden its training of security forces, we should continue to support the African Union in Darfur, and look for ways to enhance Operation Achieve Endeavor.

Basket 2: Meeting emerging challenges

The strategic environment we live in today is very different from nearly 60 years ago when NATO was established. Today’s challenges include threats to our cybersecurity, securing our ships, ports, and waters against terrorists; guaranteeing the integrity of our energy supplies and transport links; defending our countries from missile attack by rogue states and terrorists and coordinating intelligence-sharing and counterterrorism efforts.

We believe that the emerging threat of missile technology is one of the critical threats of our time. On missile defense, the Alliance has expressed interest in focusing on short- and medium-range missile defense assets to complete Europe’s theater missile defense. In the months ahead, the U.S. will be looking to finalize its bilateral negotiations with the Czech Republic and Poland. The next step will be to develop a plan for complementarity between the two systems, as the Secretary General has said; we should be working to “bolt together” NATO’s own missile defense programs with the US system in defense of Allied populations and territories.

In other areas as well, (energy, cyber and maritime situational awareness), NATO should look to add value in its areas of expertise and link to ongoing cooperative efforts.

With respect to capabilities that directly respond to these new threats, we seek refinement of existing concepts. For example, the NATO Response Force should be updated and right-sized, to reflect both mission requirements and other security demands. Another area for Allied focus is build on the successful example of the C-17 consortia model, in which countries came together to finance and procure a major capability, to develop plans for meeting other operational needs. One area where such cooperation would be welcome is helicopters, as our experience in Afghanistan has shown.

In short, we are looking to a NATO that is more flexible and adaptable to both the challenges of today as well as those on the horizon.

Basket 3: Advancing Europe Whole and Free

Completing the map of a Europe that is democratic, whole and free is intrinsic to NATO’s mission.

The most pressing challenge is to settle the status of Kosovo. While this is not the place for a lengthy discussion on Kosovo, let me say that the status quo is not sustainable. Following the Troika’s report to the UN Security Council in December, NATO should be prepared to play a supporting role in supervised independence by providing training for local forces.

In keeping with NATO’s Open Door policy, the United States supports the broadest possible NATO enlargement, recalling that NATO is a “performance-based” Alliance.

The United States strongly supports inviting Georgia into Membership Action Plan status. As for Ukraine, it will be a decision for Ukrainians to make, but NATO’s door should be open to them.

In order to consolidate security and stability in the Balkans, we believe we should support requests for Intensified Dialogue from other European Partnership for Peace members.

Basket 4: Global Partners

We look forward to enhancing NATO global partnerships by working more closely with security-providing nations around the globe, such as in Afghanistan with Australia, Japan, New Zealand, and South Korea. Surely there are other democratic security providers with whom we can build partnerships.

At Riga, we agreed to open NATO’s toolbox of exercises, training, courses, and seminars. We believe that more can be done to fully implement this commitment and showcase the success of global partnerships at Bucharest.

Mediterranean Dialogue and Istanbul Cooperation Initiative partners have shown they are interested in regular training and outreach. We would like to see some of the best practices institutionalized, and advance the concept of the NATO Training Cooperation Initiative with Mediterranean Dialogue and ICI partners.

Finally, we want to review NATO’s arrangements with other international institutions such as the EU, the UN and the African Union. NATO has been fulfilling UN mandates in Kosovo and Afghanistan by providing security, reconstruction and training. NATO has provided critical logistical support to the African Union’s mission in Darfur. Here again, we have moved forward by doing.

That’s our agenda for Bucharest. In short, we want to  Highlight NATO’s role as an exporter of global security  Prepare the Alliance to meet emerging challenges  Advance Europe whole and free  Enhance Global Partnerships

There is another key element that I haven’t addressed directly. That is our commitment to constructive engagement with Russia, which touches on all four baskets, and indeed virtually everything we do at NATO.

The NATO-Russia Council and cooperative efforts, have been successful in developing as a process for increasingly frank consultation and joint action such as the counter narcotics training we provided for Afghans, Central Asians. We will not shy away from frank discussions about the “tough” issues such as the Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty, missile defense, Kosovo and enlargement. But we would like to pursue new opportunities to work with Russia in areas of shared concern.

We have and continue to consult closely with Moscow on the development of our missile defenses and we seek opportunities to cooperate further, most recently in the Moscow two-plus-two talks.

NATO in Defense of Common Security and Values

Lord Robertson famously said the “this is not your daddy’s NATO.” Well, it’s not his NATO anymore either. And it is not just our NATO either. NATO now has relevance for a global audience.

But the mission of the Alliance is still defined here at home by our common democratic values as well as our security interests.

Whether we call it homeland security or national defense of territory, the United States remains fully committed to the defending security at home for Americans, at home for our Allies. We are prepared to go where our security and values may be threatened and where we agree to address them collectively.

NATO should come out of Bucharest showing that it is as strong and as unified as ever. By addressing these key areas, we believe it will.

Thank you for your attention.