NATOâs Defense Capabilities Initiative (CRS Report for Congress)
| Release Date |
May 22, 2001 |
| Report Number |
RS20907 |
| Report Type |
Report |
| Authors |
Carl Ek, Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
Summary:
With the end of the Cold War, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) began to reassess
its
collective defense strategy and to anticipate possible missions the alliance might undertake. The
conflicts in the Balkans pointed up the need for more mobile forces, for technological equality
between the United States and its allies, and for interoperability. At the 1999 NATO summit in
Washington D.C., the alliance launched the Defense Capabilities Initiative (DCI), an effort intended
to better enable NATO to deploy troops quickly to crisis regions, to supply and protect those forces,
to provide them with appropriate communications, and to equip them to engage an adversary
effectively-all with greater compatibility. To meet the DCI's goals, however, most allied countries
will need to increase their individual defense budgets, a step many have been reluctant to take. In
addition, many policymakers are concerned over possible conflicts between DCI and the European
Union plan to field an all-European force.
