Rethinking Europe's Defense

...Like Solana, who is becoming defense and security coordinator of the European Union (EU), Robertson, 53, was an active opponent of NATO policies many years ago...

...Navy and Air Force played by far the biggest roles...

...They arose during and after NATO'S operations against the Serbs earlier this year, when the United States shouldered by far the greatest military burden in a campaign conducted in Western Europe's backyard...

...European economies are recovering from the doldrums and funding is scarce...

...Robertson, a policeman's son who has just been elevated to the House of Lords, is due to assume his new post in October, succeeding Javier Solana of Spain...

...The bickering about tactics notwithstanding, it is apparent from the Kosovo experience that NATO is more capable of united and dynamic action than was previously believed—even in operations where the strategic interests of its member nations are not directly threatened...

...A historic opportunity without precedent is opening before us," says an organization newsletter reporting a recent meeting of the WEU Assembly's Standing Committee...

...In addition, questions are being raised in London about the cost of Britain's continuing air operations with America over Iraq's no-fly zones...

...It was similarly engaged on the fringe of the operations in the former Yugoslavia...

...There was little consideration of an alternative candidate after German Defense Minister Rudolf Scharping, once widely agreed to be in line forthe job, decided to stay in domestic politics...

...Five years later the BTO evolved into the Western European Union (WEU), and its Assembly has held regular meetings on how "to strengthen the European pillar of the [Atlantic] Alliance...

...The significance of that disproportion is being re-examined in the light of the appointment August 4 of British Defense Secretary George Robertson as NATO Secretary General...

...AS A BRITON TAKES OVER Rethinking Europe's Defense By Norman Gelb London Troubling questions are being asked here about Europe's role in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), now half a century old...

...During his two years as Defense Secretary, he has earned a reputation as an unflappable, plain-spoken, effective political figure...

...The people of Britain would not favor spending on state-of-the art fighter aircraft and guided missiles instead of restoring the country's deteriorating transportation system...

...Writing in Le Figaro, Lluis Maria de Puig, then president of the Assembly of the Western European Union (WEU), observed that "in the face of the guarantees United States power can offer, Europe has all but painted itself out of the picture, [undermining] confidence as to whether Europeans can in fact settle conflict arising at the heart of the Old Continent...

...At the time, the United States, fed up with having been drawn into two major European wars in this century, was reluctant to get overly involved in European security arrangements...

...It must make far a greater investment in its own military preparedness if it is to carry as much weight as the United States in NATO's chambers...

...leadership's unwillingness to risk the lives of its soldiers in Kosovo made it politically impossible for the Europeans to do so...

...Does this mean it should be bolder in taking on military missions outside the organization's traditional turf...

...But he eventually concluded, as did Solana, that powerful Western defenses are essential to world peace and became a vigorous advocate of that principle within the Labor Party's often fractious ranks...

...The chances that it will anytime soon are slim...

...Nor would the Germans or French applaud big military outlays at a moment when their longstanding free national health care programs are being trimmed...

...role in Europe...

...Still, the BTO's limitations worried Washington, and in 1949 the U.S...

...As a young man he joined in demonstrations against the deployment of American missile submarines at the Holy Loch base in his native Scotland...

...Indeed, the Brussels Treaty Organization (BTO) was formed in 1948, in response to the threats posed by an expanding Soviet empire in Eastern and Central Europe...

...In the Gulf war it coordinated the naval operations of its member nations to enforce the embargo on goods for Iraq...

...The crises in Bosnia, Albania and Kosovo have shown that conflict, war and ethnic cleansing are still possible in Europe and that Europeans have not been capable of handling such crises effectively and with authority...

...During the Iran-Iraq war, WEU member states acted together to help keep international waters safe by dispatching vessels to clear mines strewn in the Strait of Hormuz...

...Second, there is the restraint on independent action that is a consequence of reliance on superior military hardware...

...To begin with, there is the question of NATO's scope...

...Norman Gelb reports regularly for The New Leader on British affairs...

...But it is considered gospel truth here that Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic would have pulled out of the province much sooner if Prime Minister Tony Blair had been able to persuade President Bill Clinton to risk U.S...

...Actually, neither NATO's historic antagonist nor its dominant member represent a serious impediment to Robertson's hopes...

...Structural problems remain to be confronted as Britain, France, Germany, and other countries pursue "Third Way" programs veering away from costly social welfare commitments...

...Although it will be difficult to convince them of NATO'S good intentions as it goes about consolidating its recent expansion, Robertson's contacts with the defense ministry in Moscow appear to be positive...

...Surely the Russians would welcome a reduced U.S...

...To meet those and other requirements, some European countries have cut back so heavily on defense spending that the)' have been unable to contribute significantly to Balkan peacekeeping...

...While actively promoting much greater European defense cooperation, he is a committed Atlanticist...

...Army casualties...

...is reluctant to expose its troops to danger...

...But calls urging the last have been heard for some time without much effect...

...To reduce dependence on American-made arms, it has sought to create an effective European Armaments Agency...

...Blair is currently urging European NATO members to unite in developing procedures for using the Organization's most advanced (American) weaponry on their own—with United States approval, of course, when the U.S...

...That would minimize the possibility of a public opinion backlash in undertakings that turn sour, and relieve the U.S...

...Europe's accelerating economic integration has added to its financial pressures...

...The key issues involved are complicated, however, and it is not at all clear they can be resolved...

...of some of its less than flattering "world's policeman' image...

...This situation must change...

...It has created small multinational military formations, like the Eurocorps (with troops from France, Germany, Belgium, Spain, and Luxembourg) and the European Rapid Deployment Force (also made up of troops from several member countries...

...On top of continuing EU subsidies to chronically distressed regions of Western Europe, economic assistance to less affluent Central European countries slated for EU absorption poses a substantial burden...

...took the leading role in forming the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to keep the Soviets at bay...

...It is hoped in NATO councils that those qualities will enable him to modernize the organization's structure and function...

...Officials at the WEU are now trying to convince their member governments that what has been happening in the Balkans should serve as a wake-up call...

...But so long as the U.S...

...Despite traditional French suspicions of the British (andjust about everyone else), as well as Greek and Italian qualms over Robertson's tough stand on the former Yugoslavia, he was chosen unanimously by the permanent representatives of all 19 NATO member nations...

...The U.S...

...He is deemed capable of working toward greater European military coordination without alienating Washington, where he is held in high regard, notably by Secretary of Defense William Cohen...

...is ready to take on most of NATO'S military responsibilities, European nations are unlikely to pour vast sums into assuming them...

...With the dissolution of the former Soviet Union, the WEU has become chiefly the military—and peacekeeping—arm of the EU...

...Foritspart, Washington wouldno doubt be delighted by an initiative that permitted European member nations to undertake operations of their own under NATO auspices when necessary...

...With these considerations in mind, the choice of Robertson as NATO chief was agreed to without the wrangling among governments that usually accompanies selecting a senior figure of an international organization...

...Finally, Europe has to bite the bullet...

...Though European support was invaluable and essential for political and logistic reasons, even in Serbia, where the adversary was puny compared to Western Europe's own combined might, the U.S...

...Third, there is the political dimension of the relationship to deal with...