“NATO: Middle East and the New Strategic Concept” next week in Kuwait
NATO Defense College - Italy
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is set to highlight for the second time in one week its views and new concept to the Arabian Gulf region.
Lieutenant-General Wolf-Dieter Loeser, the Commandant of the NATO Defense College (NDC), will deliver a lecture in Kuwait City on “NATO: Middle East and the New Strategic Concept” next week, the Kuwaiti Diplomatic Institute (KDI) said on Saturday.
Loeser will visit Kuwait on March 14-15 and will hold talks with high-profile military and security officials on developing relations between NATO and Kuwait, a statement by KDI said.
The lecture is organized in cooperation with the National Security Bureau as part of the institute’s regular programmes.
Last week, Nato secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said that the alliance and the Gulf countries had to confront common security threats.
“We face common challenges and threats, such as failed states, terrorism, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, piracy and energy security,” Rasmussen said in Bahrain. “These are all security issues that cannot be successfully tackled by any one country alone. They require a multilateral and cooperative approach to security, including through the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative. Therefore it is clear that the security of Bahrain, and of all our ICI partner countries, is of strategic interest to NATO,” he told a gathering of diplomats, journalists and think tank members. It was his first visit to Manama and his second to the Gulf since he was elected to NATO’s top post in April 2009.
According to NATO officials, the new Strategic Concept, to be elaborated and approved by all 28 current Allies, takes into account the way in which security challenges have evolved and includes the new emphasis on proliferation, failed states, piracy, energy supplies, terrorism and climate change. It also covers how NATO has adapted and transformed in the last decade to better tackle these challenges.
The concept was requested by NATO’s Heads of State and Government at their Summit in Strasbourg / Kehl on April 3-4 2009.
The Secretary General was tasked with developing the concept and presenting it at the next summit expected to take place towards the end of 2010.
