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ROBERTKUPIECKI
TheHarmelReportandLessons
fromNATO’sDual-TrackPolicy
The1960swasprobablyoneofthestormiestmomentsinNATOhistory,
characterisedbyMoscow’sadvantageinthefieldofconventionalweapons,
itsrapidlygrowingnuclearpotential,andapersistentdisputeoveranew
Alliedstrategytoescapefromthe“massiveretaliation”trapandstalemate
ofmilitaryescalation.Itwasalsoadecadeduringwhichnuclearpolicywas
debated,andonethatsawFranceleavetheAlliancein1967.Inaddition,
itwasatimeofdifferencesinopinionamongtheAlliesinregardstothe
prospectsofeasingstrainedrelationswiththecommunistbloc.Allofthese
factorsappearedtohavebeenleadingtheorganisationtotheedgeofacrisis.1
AsolutionfinallycamewithapoliticalreflectionthatresultedintheHarmel
Report,releasedinDecember1967.Thisdocumentopenedthedoortoan
agreementon“flexibleresponse,”bringinganewlooktorelationswiththe
Easternbloc.Thesignificanceofthisdocumentlaynotonlyinthefactthat
itcalledforanewapproachwhichcombinedNATO’smightwithpolitical
dialogue,butalsointhemethodofhowitwascreatedviacompromiseamong
theAllies.2Fromthattimeon,thedual-track(poweranddialogue)policy
wastodirecttheAlliance’sactivitiespermanently.Anotherpoliticaltrack
wasaddedafter1989,toincludethenetworkofpartnership-basedrelations
establishedbyNATOwithnon-members.Ifallthisseemsfamiliarin2018,
itisworthnotingthatparallelswhichbecomeapparentinthisarticle(for
exampledisputesontheadequatelevelofdeterrenceanddefence,hybrid
1
Forthebroadercontextoftheseissuessee:R.Kupiecki,Siłaisolidarność.Strategia
NATO1949-1989,PISM,2012,pp.207-262.
2
AftertheendoftheColdWar,itwasusedtopreparethedecisionon2010NATO’sLisbon
Strategy.See:NATO2020.Zapewnionebezpieczeństwo,dynamicznezaangażowanie,
introductionandeditsA.D.Rotfeld,PISM,2010.
ThePolishQuarterlyofInternationalAffairs,2017,no.4
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