Photo By Kyle Osterhoudt | Participants of the NATO Strategic Concept Seminar engaged in discussions during one...... read more read more
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Senior NATO officials looked to West Point to organize and lead a workshop to help revise the outdated NATO Strategic Concept.
The workshop, which included 44 in-person and 40 virtual attendees from various backgrounds and specialties, was held Feb. 3-4 at the West Point Club and Jefferson Hall.
The Strategic Concept is a document that reaffirms NATOʼs values and purpose, and it also provides a collective assessment of the security environment.
“All of you here in-person and virtually will be a crucial part in the drafting of these concepts,ˮ said Ambassador Douglas Lute, former U.S. Permanent Representative to the North Atlantic Council, NATOʼs standing political body, as he looked across the room. “This is an adventure that will actually feed an ongoing decision-making process inside what arguably is the most important alliance that we have in the world today.ˮ
He added that these concepts dictate NATO’s strategic adaptation and guide its future political and military development.
When the participants gathered from across the world and from different specialties, it was to review current NATO policy to submit a thorough report to the policy planning unit (PPU) within NATO by the end of the workshop. The team at West Point was hand-selected to assist in this vital stage of the planning process.
“We understand how significant this workshop is for the future of NATO, and we want to provide the best information so that PPU can make decisions on policy,ˮ said Maj. Michael Duda, a member of the West Point Social Sciences Research Lab and a key contributor in the planning and execution of this event. “The focus here is to gather various inputs and interests to see what policies are feasible and effective.ˮ
Duda said it had been more than 10 years since NATO last revised the Strategic Concept, and he hopes that the PPU for NATO will use these reports to help shape the future of NATO.
“NATO has changed in the last decade, as has the socio-political and, in particular, technological context, but the policy in place hasn't yet,ˮ Duda said. “Policies must change to stay current with what is actually going on in the world.ˮ
Duda also said that the participants brought a wealth of knowledge from academic, defense and policy communities, and 12 NATO partner states were represented in the discussions.
“These panels were purposeful and strategically designed and selected to discuss intelligently on the varied topics,ˮ Duda said. “It is important that we got the right people together to discuss important questions and issues on NATO.ˮ
Some of the questions brought before the panels were NATOʼs role in a contested/competitive security environment, and how should this be reflected in the Strategic Concept? Other questions included how NATOʼs strategic posture should change in response to current and foreseeable technological evolutions?
“These questions provided the framework to drive the conversations and were an important part of the purpose of the workshop,ˮ Duda said.
Duda went on to say that his team remained focused throughout the planning process despite facing many challenges. He later explained that the eventʼs success would not have happened without a strong team working hard every day.
“This was no small task of coordinating with attendees from all over the world,ˮ Duda said. “Our team worked through logistical and technical challenges to accomplish the goal of this event, and I am proud of them.ˮ
At the end of the workshop, the panels provided reports on the different perspectives in the rooms to potentially provide input on NATOʼs policy.
“We are truly honored to host this event,ˮ Duda said “We have been working very hard on this since October of last year to get this right.ˮ
| Date Taken: | 02.17.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 02.17.2022 10:31 |
| Story ID: | 414835 |
| Location: | WEST POINT, NEW YORK, US |
| Web Views: | 42 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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