National Support and Cooperation: The Keys to Implementing Smart Defence

Interoperability.Connected forces. Whichever term you use, its in the Alliances DNA. Its what makes the Alliance unique. And its what gives the Alliance its true strength. (Anders Fogh Rasmussen, NATO Secretary General)

At the core of NATOs new strategy lies the concept of Smart Defence. Based on prioritization, specialization and cooperation, Smart Defence seems the perfect combination to strenghten the Alliance and take the NATO core-concepts of shared responsibility and cooperation to another level, while overcoming the burdens of the economic crisis. However, in these current times of austerity, one question rises: How could NATO build a safe bridge between theory and implementation? As the date of the Chicago Summit approaches and governments continue to focus on protectionist measures, budget cuts and savings, achieving national support appears to be an impediment for the debut of the concept implementation phase. It is my strong belief that concurrent with taking the concrete steps in implementing Smart Defence, NATO must constantly focus on drawing the attention of its member states to the benefits of the strategy, while providing assistance and transparency along the whole process. Of course, one could argue that some states would consider that their involvement in the process will not bring them any significant benefits. For this reason, there should be a permanent focus on those benefits that will regard not only the alliance as a whole, but also the security and stability of every member state in particular. NATO should also constantly highlight that increased defence cooperation is all about achieving more security with spending less resources and without producing any sovereignty infringement. First step: INFOSMART In my opinion, the lack of information fuels concerns and misunderstanding. Therefore, one step that should be taken as soon as possible is the development of an information campaign NATO INFOSMART in all NATO member states, with the goal of promoting the concept of Smart Defence. The campaign should be based on brochures, newsletters, videos, exhibits and

other activities that could enable every citizen to become aware of NATOs major role in delivering global security and stability. NATO could work more closely with its international partner, the United Nations and use the UN information centers for delivering the campaign. This will add up more legitimacy and will give NATO the image of an indispensable alliance for international peace and security. Second step: SMARTCON Furthermore, I consider that NATO should focus now more than ever on maintaining a strong transatlantic link. Due to the fact that NATO and the European Union share both a majority of members and common values, the two organisations should play complementary roles in implementing the concept of Smart Defence. For this reason, I would like to recommend the creation of a consultative body SMARTCON designed to strengthen the strategic partnership between NATO and the EU. This body should be made of experts in various related fields, such as military management, defence planning and defence economy. Taking into account the financial and logistic resources of all the NATO member states, the experts could set up a common plan, which could clearly indicate the prioritization and specialization areas for every state in particular. Furthermore, this body could assist the states in implementing Smart Defence by sending specialized commisions in the territory, offering consulting services when needed and facilitating dialogue and meetings between military and civil state-representatives. I believe that the creation of a consultative body, capable of monitoring the implementation of the concept and providing assistance is of the outmost importance for assuring the efficiency and transparency of the whole process. Third step: improving education and training What is more, there is also the need to further develop and improve the joint programmes designed for the education and training of the NATO forces. The NATO joint training centres should focus more on bringing together troops from all NATO nations, including the United States. The purpose is to strenghten the Alliance and offer all the allies the chance to benefit from advanced military knowledge, techniques and training methods. This would allow countries with smaller defence budgets to concentrate on developing the existing resources without being forced to invest heavily in other directions. Furthermore, common training

should continue at national levels, through military personnel exchange programmes and periodical competitions and seminars organized for army specialists.