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TheHarmelReportandLessonsfromNATO’sDual-TrackPolicy
Itwasalsoagreedthatfourparallelprocessescharacterisingthe
internationalcontextofthetimewoulddeterminethefuturerolesofthe
Alliance.Theseprocesseswere:
1)HaltingspreadofcommunisminEuropeandunderminingtheunity
oftheEasternbloc.
2)DeepeningintegrationofWesternEuropeanstatesandaddressingthe
lackofbalanceofpowerbetweenthemandtheUnitedStates.
3)DecolonisationandchangingrelationsofEuropeanstateswiththerest
oftheworld.
4)Increasingproblemsinrelationsbetweendevelopedanddeveloping
states.
Againstthisbackground,NATO’stwomostimportantroleswere
presented.Thefirstrole,whichcanbecalleditstraditionalone,was
relatedtotheneedtomaintainmilitaryandpoliticalsolidarityasthe
primaryconditionofcredibledeterrence,discouragingaggression
throughcollectivedefence.Inthisregard,anyconcessionsforthesake
ofimprovingrelationswithcommuniststateswereexcluded.Itwasalso
determinedthattheunresolvedGermanissuewasafactorincreasingtherisk
ofwar.Thus,whilecallingforsolidarityamongtheAllies,itwasstatedthat
thefutureresolutionofthisproblemhadtorespecttherightsofbothGerman
statestodecidetheirownfutureaswellasthevoiceofthefoursuperpowers
andjustifiedinterestsofotherstates.ThesecondNATOroleformulatedin
theHarmelReportwasrelatedtotheinstabilityofEast-Westrelations.
Theproposedsolution,unprecedentedinthelightofNATO’searlier
practices,wastoseek“thebasisformorestablerelations,allowing
currentproblemstobesolved”inordertoreducetheriskoftheeruption
ofa“hotconflict.”
Thestrategicnoveltyofthisdual-trackstrategylayinthelimited
combinationofthesetwomissions,withemphasisondialoguewiththe
EasternbloctobecarriedoutwithanaimofensuringtheWest’sdefence
needs.FortheAllies,theweakeningofthebasisofcollectivedefencecould
havemeantaninabilitytoachievethegoalsofthesecondcomponentof
NATO’sstrategy.Concentratingsolelyonthefirstcomponentofthestrategy
wouldhaveenforcedhostilitybetweentheblocs,withoutanychanceof
beneficialchange.Abroaderjustificationforthisapproachwaspresented
inthereportpreparedbythethirdexpertgroup,focusingonthefutureof
ThePolishQuarterlyofInternationalAffairs,2017,no.4
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