LegiStorm

Summary:

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO’s) 2016 summit was held in Warsaw, Poland, on July 8-9, 2016. The summit was the second meeting of the alliance’s 28 heads of state and government since 2014, when Russia annexed Crimea and began providing large-scale military support to separatist forces fighting in Ukraine. Russia’s actions in Ukraine and Eastern Europe more broadly have upended NATO’s post-Cold War transformation from a military alliance focused solely on deterring Russia to a globally oriented security organization. Over the last two years, NATO has taken major steps to strengthen once again its territorial defense capabilities and to deter Russia. NATO’s renewed focus on collective defense and deterrence has created some tensions within the alliance, particularly between those member states more sensitive to the Russian threat— especially in Eastern Europe—and those, such as Germany, with a long history of close ties to Russia. In addition, heightened fears about instability in the Middle East and North Africa have caused strain between those allies more concerned about security threats from NATO’s south and those that continue to prioritize deterring and managing Russia. At the Warsaw summit, NATO leaders sought to balance these concerns by addressing both the threat to NATO’s east and the threat to its south. As such, the summit focused primarily on two broad themes:  Enhancing deterrence, primarily through forward deployment to Eastern Europe, and  Projecting stability beyond NATO, in particular to the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Among other things, NATO leaders announced the rotational deployment of up to 4,000 troops to Poland and the three Baltic states, an expanded training mission for Iraqi soldiers, and additional NATO support for Afghanistan and Ukraine. NATO leaders also assessed member state progress in implementing defense spending and capabilities development commitments, a key U.S. priority. Finally, NATO formally invited Montenegro to become the 29th member of the alliance. Summit deliberations were marked by divergent views over the threat posed by Russia and by debate over the appropriate role for NATO in addressing the wide-ranging security challenges emanating from the MENA region. On Russia, some allies, mostly in Western Europe, continue to resist calls from allies such as Poland and the Baltic states for a more robust NATO military presence in the eastern part of the alliance. On threats from the MENA region, several allies are reluctant to endorse a bigger role for NATO in issues—such as terrorism and migration—on which the European Union (EU) has traditionally taken the lead. Furthermore, many analysts contend that significant budgetary and political constraints facing many allied governments could limit NATO’s capacity to deter Russia while addressing security threats to NATO’s south. The Warsaw summit took place just two weeks after the United Kingdom (UK) voted to leave the EU. Prior to the referendum, many allied leaders echoed the sentiments of NATO SecretaryGeneral Jens Stoltenberg that a British exit from the EU, referred to as Brexit, would have negative repercussions for regional security. Since the referendum, these leaders have stressed the importance of using NATO as a platform for both transatlantic and European defense cooperation. UK officials have emphasized that the country’s commitment to NATO remains steadfast. Along with France, the UK is widely acknowledged to be the most militarily capable European ally.