16 Oct 2003

Securing peace: expert conference examines past lessons as NATO looks to future News 14/10/2003 - NATO Securing Peace : NATO’s Role in Crisis Management and Conflict Resolution Multimedia Speeches, audio and photos from the conference PDF Library NATO Briefing: Building peace and stability in crisis regions (.PDF/550Kb) Effective crisis management requires transatlantic unity, political vision and sufficient military power said Lord Robertson at a conference on NATO’s role in crisis management in Brussels, 16 October. The Secretary General delivered the keynote address at the NATO-sponsored conference, which brought together prominent experts to discuss the Alliance’s role in crisis management as it takes on new missions. “Over the course of this year, NATO’s evolution has made a quantum leap. By taking the lead in ISAF in Afghanistan, and by supporting Poland in post-Saddam Iraq, the Alliance has taken up new security roles well beyond the Euro-Atlantic area,” Lord Robertson said explaining the timeliness of the conference. Speakers included Carl Bildt, the former Special Envoy of the UN Secretary General to the Balkans and former High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Mr. Gareth Evans, President of the International Crisis Group and former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Australia, and Boris Tadic, the Minister of Defence of Serbia and Montenegro Lessons from the past, for the future One of the most visible changes in NATO’s activities since the end of the Cold War has been its involvement in ending conflict, restoring peace and building stability in crisis regions. The conference began with a discussion of lessons learned from the Alliance’s involvement in the Balkans and how these could be applied to NATO’s new missions. This included both the civilian aspects and challenges of ‘winning the peace’ and rebuilding failed states after a conflict, as well as military responses to crises. A panel also examined the role of public diplomacy in building local and international support for crisis management operations, with speakers emphasizing its importance to the success of operations. The lessons of the past set the scene for the discussion of the challenges that lie ahead for NATO, in Afghanistan - where NATO took over command of the peacekeeping force - as well as in other crisis areas, where the Alliance might be called on to intervene. The conference, under the patronage of Lord Robertson, was organized by NATO’s Public Diplomacy Division, NATO Parliamentary Assembly and the Geneva Center for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces.