Russia and China: What NATO’s Next Strategic Concept Will Focus On

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg presented in Riga five elements that should form the basis for the strategic concept of the alliance. The document should be approved at the Madrid summit in 2022. The new strategic concept of NATO should focus, in particular, on the challenges from Russia and China. This was pointed out by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg who outlined five elements of the concept at a speech in Riga on Tuesday, November 30, DW correspondent reports. “Next to the Washington Treaty (the North Atlantic Treaty of 1949. - Ed.), the Strategic Concept of NATO is most important guiding document,” the Secretary General of the Alliance said. He recalled that the current concept was approved back in 2010, and it says that “the Euro-Atlantic area is at peace.” Russia was mentioned a strategic partner in the document, and China was not mentioned at all. “But today, we can no longer take our peace and security for granted. The Russian regime is aggressive abroad and repressive at home. Its military buildup on Ukraine’s borders is of concern. Meanwhile, the Chinese Communist Party is using its economic and military might to coerce other countries and control its own people,” Stoltenberg said. Five elements of the new NATO Strategic Concept According to Stoltenberg, the first element of the new strategic concept should be the protection of values. “NATO was created to defend democracy, freedom and the rule of law. These values define who we are. They are not optional,” explained the Secretary General of the Alliance and pointed to the “pressure” put on these values by both authoritarian regimes and political forces that do not respect democracy. The second element is reinforcing the military power. In addition to Russia and China, Stoltenberg pointed to cyber-attacks, terrorism and the proliferation of nuclear weapons. “But to ensure our security is not enough to have strong militaries. We also need strong societies. And this is my third point,” the Secretary General of the alliance added and gave an example: “In Europe, we need gas to flow from Russia to keep it warm. And we need the rare earth supplies from China to use our smartphones and computers.” According to Stoltenberg, all NATO countries should make their societies, state structures and infrastructure more resistant to attacks. Expansion of cooperation with partners Fourth, NATO must become a global alliance. Stoltenberg stressed that there will be no new members in the alliance from regions outside North America and Europe. “But our region is facing global security challenges,” Stoltenberg said. Among the examples he named “aggressive actions in space”, hypersonic glide vehicles on intercontinental ballistic missiles and climate change. The alliance’s response should be enhanced cooperation with partners such as Australia, New Zealand, South Korea and Japan, the NATO Secretary General said. The fifth element, according to Stoltenberg, is the strengthening of the alliance as an institution. At the same time, Stoltenberg noted that he does not know exactly what the new strategic concept will be, because it will be adopted by 30 member countries of the alliance at the Madrid summit in 2022. The main topic of the meeting of NATO foreign Ministers on November 30 and December 1 in Riga will be Russia’s military build-up on Ukraine’s borders. DW