NATO INFORMAL Defense Ministerial, Feb 9-10, 2006

Rumsfeld Urges Continuing NATO Transformation To Meet Threats Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said he was “heartened by the tone and content” of informal meetings held by NATO defense ministers in Taormina, Italy. Rumsfeld said the ministers committed to meeting the financial contributions needed to make the NATO Response Force fully operational in 2006. The NRF is central to the alliance’s shift from a static, Cold War defensive posture to one that is agile and expeditionary. He said he continued to urge his counterparts to examine the percentage of the gross domestic product that is invested in defense within their respective countries. NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer has suggested that each NATO nation should try to dedicate 2 percent of its GDP toward building appropriate defense capabilities. more

Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld Remarks at the NATO Defense Ministerial Press Conference U.S. Department of Defense, February 10, 2005. more

Opening remarks by NATO Secretary General, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer at the Informal meeting of NATO Defense Ministers We are gathering informally today and tomorrow in this beautiful city of Taormina to take stock of NATO’s operations and to advance our preparations for the Summit to be held in Riga in November. This Summit should be a marker in the continuing evolution of the Alliance and we should use it to ensure that NATO is fit to respond to the political and operational challenges and opportunities of the 21st century. We should therefore use our meetings this year, culminating in the Summit, to ensure that the Alliance remains a flexible and effective instrument to safeguard the security of its members and to promote security and stability ever more broadly and widely. more

ENGAGING IRAN

Realizing the Goals of Transformational Diplomacy Secretary Condoleezza Rice Testimony Before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Washington, DC February 15, 2006. more

U.S. Believes Diplomacy Can Address Iranian Nuclear Threat, Rice Says The United States believes the international community is united in its determination to use diplomatic means to prevent Iran's development of technologies that can lead to nuclear weapons, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in two television news interviews February 12. Iran is only isolating itself by rejecting negotiations and withdrawing its cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rice said on CBS's Face the Nation and ABC's This Week. more

Reaching Out to the People of Iran State Department Fact Sheet  Washington, DC February 15, 2006. more

COMMON DEFENSE, COMMON SECURITY

NATO To Be Proactive on Security but Not Become Global Policeman NATO is undergoing both a physical and philosophical transformation that will result in a more proactive alliance operating beyond its traditional borders to prevent crisis and conflict, says General James L. Jones, NATO’s supreme allied commander. “I wouldn’t characterize NATO as becoming a global policeman,” Jones said. “NATO will go where political guidance directs us to go, working closely with accepted political decision-making authorities like the United Nations … to see where it can be helpful.” more

NATO: Common Defense to Common Security General James L. Jones, NATO’s supreme allied commander remarks to Senate Foreign Relations Committee on February 9, 2006. more

Munich Security Conference Feb 3-5, 2006

Statement on Security Policy by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld at the 42nd Munich Conference Ministers, parliamentarians, ladies and gentlemen. I am very pleased to be back at this important gathering and to see so many old friends. It is sometimes said that America is somewhat unusual among nations, because most of our citizens trace their origins to someplace else. To Asia and Africa. The Middle East. Central and South America. And of course, here in Europe. more

NATO Head Calls for Expansion of Strategic Partnerships NATO must engage in broader political dialogue, expand its strategic partnerships and reform its funding mechanisms, says its secretary-general, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer. “In this new world, solidarity is the key,” he said. “Political, military and financial solidarity.” De Hoop Scheffer, speaking at the Munich Conference on Security Policy February 4, called on trans-Atlantic allies to bring more issues to the alliance for discussion, naming energy security as one topic for consultations. more

Speech by NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer at the 42nd Munich Conference on Security Policy Today’s security environment bears no resemblance to the Cold War – when deterrence took care of our security needs, and when our solidarity was never tested in operations. Today’s challenges are very different. They require us to act – sometimes in faraway regions; where we know our soldiers’ lives will be at risk; where the costs can be high; and where the engagements can seem long. In this new world, solidarity is the key: political, military and financial solidarity. NATO has always embodied solidarity between Europe and North America. We are demonstrating it today, including in Afghanistan. more

G8: EnERGY Security

G8 Ministers Endorse Energy Security as Focus of July Summit Finance ministers of the Group of Eight (G8) industrialized countries have agreed on energy security as the main focus of group's July 15-17 summit and on broad principles that are likely to provide a basis for discussions at that meeting. more

Quadrennial defense review

Quadrennial Defense Review Preface The Report of the 2006 Quadrennial Defense Review represents a snapshot in time of the Department's strategy for defense of the Nation and the capabilities needed to effectively execute that defense. In it's pages the Department's senior leadership sets out where it needs to go in fulfilling our responsibilities to the American people. more

Transatlantic Focus: A U.S. Foreign Policy Newsletter
is published and distributed by the Public Affairs Section of the United States Mission to NATO - Brussels.