NATO has agreed on a new strategic concept that describes Russia as “the most significant and immediate threat to the security and stability of the allies”, reflecting a serious deterioration in the alliance’s relations with Moscow over the past decade.
In 2010, when leaders agreed on the alliance’s last key document outlining NATO’s vision, they set out to build a long-term partnership with their longtime Cold War adversary.
Dmitry Medvedev, the then President of Russia, was present at the Lisbon summit, where it was agreed.
China was not even mentioned in the 2010 strategy, seen in the West as a benign trading partner and manufacturing base.
It is now described as a challenge to NATO’s “interests, security and values” as an economic and military power that “remains opaque about its strategy, intentions and military buildup”.
The following is a list of NATO’s new positions as cited in the new 10-page strategic concept and an explanation of these concepts’ role in the alliance.
NATO’s strategic concepts
The strategic concept defines the focus areas of the alliance and is updated approximately once every decade.
The document, made public, provides guidelines translated into political and military action.
NATO’s last strategic draft was drafted when the alliance was engaged in a US-led battle against Taliban militants and a democracy-building mission in Afghanistan.
It was four years before Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014, triggering a return for NATO to its roots of collective defense rather than crisis management beyond its ‘out of area’ borders.
A 2022 concept has been a long time coming.
Diplomats and officials said the alliance was afraid to formulate a new strategy while US President Donald Trump, a NATO critic who threatened to leave the partnership in 2018, was in office.
Russia
The new strategic draft paper accuses Russia of seeking to “establish spheres of influence and direct control through coercion, subversion, aggression, and annexation”.
NATO says Moscow is using conventional military, cyber, and hybrid means to achieve these goals.
“Moscow’s military buildup, including in the Baltic, Black, and Mediterranean regions, together with its military integration with Belarus, pose a challenge to our security and interests,” says the strategic draft.
It also expresses concern about the modernization of Russia’s nuclear forces, Moscow’s threats to use nuclear weapons, and the development of “new and disruptive double-capacity delivery systems”, a reference to the development of hypersonic weapons targeting conventional and nuclear warheads. Can wear.
Russia accuses NATO of threatening European security by expanding eastwards since the mid-1990s.
In response to Russia’s actions, NATO will significantly strengthen its deterrence and defenses, the document says, stressing that the alliance is not seeking confrontation with Moscow but instead seeks dialogue.
“We remain willing to maintain open communication channels with Moscow to manage and mitigate risks, prevent escalation and increase transparency,” the strategic draft said.
China
China is first mentioned in NATO’s strategic concept.
Beijing’s “declared ambitions and coercive policies challenge our interests, security, and values,” the document said.
The draft accuses China of using malicious hybrid and cyber operations, confrontational rhetoric, and disinformation to attack NATO allies and harm NATO’s security.
China denies such tactics.
The document also discusses China’s economic ambitions, stating that Beijing wanted to control key technology and industrial sectors, critical infrastructure, and strategic materials and supply chains.
“It uses its economic influence to create strategic dependencies and increase its influence,” the concept says.
“It aims to undermine the rules-based international order, including in the space, cyber and maritime domains.”
It also expresses concern about the closer ties between Moscow and Beijing, which “mutually reinforce efforts to undermine the rules-based international order”.
NATO says it is open to constructive cooperation with China but will raise awareness and increase its preparedness against Beijing’s “coercive tactics and efforts to divide the alliance”.