RUSI involved in preparing NATO's Bucharest Summit
The address of His Excellency Mr Teodor Melescanu, Defence Minister of Romania, to RUSI on the 15th November 2007 launched the European Security and Transatlantic Programmes’ coverage of NATO issues in the run-up to the next NATO Heads of State and Government summit in Bucharest in April 2008.Â
Project Focus
With the mission in Afghanistan an imperative on the agenda of operational concerns in the United Kingdom and amongst Allies, discussions are also ongoing within NATO surrounding the development of a Comprehensive Approach which aims to improve civil-military relations and working practices with international & civilian bodies dedicated to reconstruction and development.
Meanwhile, the question of
Debates abound in the current strategic environment in terms of security and NATO enlargement in the Balkans, Missile Defence, NATO’s Memorandum of Understanding with the UN, as well as with its various partnership programmes (Med dialogue, ICI, EACP, etc) - yet their place on the Agenda for Bucharest will depend on the appetite amongst Allies to tackle these in turn and according to national timelines set outside the organisation.
Finally, the year ahead is one that is most apt in terms of determining how the
Conference Programme
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As part of a three-conference programme ahead of the next NATO summit in
The conferences will be organised in partnership with the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as with a number of Romanian partners.
Regional Security, Energy Security and NATO: Future Problems and Possibilities
The opening seminar of our Bucharest Conference series proposes to discuss the need for the
Increased competition amongst states for limited natural resources, a resurgent authoritarian
The discussion will seek to identify what practical steps the
From Comprehensive Approach to Strategic Concept: Lessons from
The challenges NATO faces in
The types of missions that the
The seminar will provide an opportunity to address a number of questions surrounding the Comprehensive Approach, NATO’s relations with international organizations in
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NATO’s contribution to the Balkans stability
NATO’s involvement in the Balkans will certainly be a key item on the agenda for the 2008 summit in
The wider question of the Balkans’ integration within Euro-Atlantic institutions is one that has been addressed at each major NATO summit in recent years. With
The Balkans have provided perhaps the most relevant framework for NATO - European Union relations, with both organisations sharing a strategic interest in furthering political, economic and social stability in the region. The success of various military & policing ESDP missions, themselves following-on from NATO operations in Bosnia-Herzegovina, FYROM and Kosovo, seems to have established a pattern for transition in peacekeeping terms which offers many valuable lessons. The mechanisms for such cooperation are still fraught with difficulties however, and could yet benefit from renewed efforts on both parties.
The seminar will provide an opportunity to discuss NATO’s geostrategic interests on Eastern and Southern parts of