Lisbon and the Evolution of NATO’s New Partnership Policy

Authors : Rebecca R MOORE

Pages : 55-74

View : 15 | Download : 10

Publication Date : 2012-05-01

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :NATO’s 2010 Strategic Concept identifies cooperative security as one of “three essential core tasks” to be achieved in part “through a wide network of partner relationships with countries and organizations around the globe”. To facilitate the construction of this broader network of partners, the Alliance adopted a new partnership policy in April 2011, designed to facilitate “more efficient and flexible” partnership arrangements. The policy offers a number of new tools to foster the cooperative security efforts deemed so critical under the new strategic concept and permits potential and existing partners an opportunity to shape their own relationships with NATO. In so doing, however, it moves the Alliance toward less differentiation between partners and fails to clarify the role of like-minded partners in preserving and extending the liberal security order that NATO’s initial partnerships were designed to enlarge
Keywords : NATO, strategic concept, partnership policy, Partnership for Peace, Euro Atlantic Partnership Council, Mediterranean Dialogue, Istanbul Cooperation Initiative