Treść książki
Przejdź do opcji czytnikaPrzejdź do nawigacjiPrzejdź do informacjiPrzejdź do stopki
TheHarmelReportandLessonsfromNATO’sDual-TrackPolicy
confirmedthesourcesofitssuccessindifficultconditions,namelythepower
oftheU.S.leadershipandtheabilityofitsmemberstocompromiseandact
insolidarity.Manyoftheideasthatemergedduringthepreparationofthe
HarmelReportwereaheadoftheirtime.Indeed,theprocessshapedNATO’s
politicalagendaforthedecadestocome,basedonawideunderstandingof
itsrolewithoutthefearthatthenon-militaryfactorwouldunderminethe
sharpnessofthevisionofcollectivedefence.
Implementation
Bythetimeofpublication,theHarmelReportwastheresultof
acompromise,onethatreflecteditsdiplomaticdefinitionwhereallparties“are
equallyunhappy.”StrengtheningtheAllianceinmanyaspects,thedocument
neverthelessgeneratedmixedfeelingsamongitsmembers.Smallerstates
ponderedhowtoincreasetheirinfluenceinthedecision-makingprocess.
Berlin,appeasedwiththeissueofsecurityandunificationofbothGerman
states,wonderedaboutthedurabilityofsuchastateofaffairs.Seemingly,
duringthepreparatoryworks,onlytheAmericansachievedthegoalsthey
hadset.TheycementedNATO’sdual-trackstrategy,enforcingitspolitical
andmilitaryfoundations.Theyalsomodernisedtherulesofdétentepolicy
andthepossibleuseofnuclearweaponsasameansof“extending”(and
notreplacing)theAlliance’sconventionaloptions.TheU.S.alsoexpanded
NATO’srolethroughpoliticalandconsultationtasksinprincipallynew
functionalandgeographicareasofactivity.Paris,notwantingtoworsen
theproblemsthattheorganisationwasdealingwith,decidednottoveto
thedocument,markingacontrastwithcriticismofNATOatthattime.The
implementationofitsopenandgeneralvision,includingthequestionofhow
tolinkitwithaflexibleresponsestrategy,remainedachallengeforthefuture.
ThefollowingyearsofNATOactivitywereclearlyinlinewiththe
assumptionsmadein1967.Theorganisationbegantoincludeconsultation
initsinternalpoliticalprocess,whichnotonlyfacilitatedmilitarypolicyand
thestabilisationofdefenceexpenditures,butalsobroughtsomeresolution
tothedeepconflictsbetweentheAllies,suchastheCodWarsbetweenthe
UnitedKingdomandIceland,andtensionsbetweenGreeceandTurkey.In
bothcases,theconciliatoryroleoftheNorthAtlanticTreatypreventedan
escalationofconflict.Anevenstrongersignofthepost-Harmeldual-track
policyimplementationwasseenintheAlliance’srelationswiththeUSSR.
AmongNATO’ssuccessesinthisregardwecaninclude:
ThePolishQuarterlyofInternationalAffairs,2017,no.4
13
