Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Thursday on the future of NATO and how the coalition could evolve to meet twenty-first century threats.
Albright, who chaired a panel to determine NATO's Strategic Concept, called for a "comprehensive approach" - an idea to create a civilian arm of NATO forces, in part as a response to the alliance's experience over the past decade in nation-building in Afghanistan. Albright also emphasized that the framers of the new Strategic Concept did not want Afghanistan to be, "the be-all and end-all of NATO." She stated that there must be lessons learned from the mission, but that NATO's strategic outlook, "has to go beyond just Afghanistan."
As the Senate continues to weigh the ratification of the START Treaty, an arms reduction agreement between Russia and the U.S., Albright proclaimed that as long as nuclear arms exist "in the system," NATO will continue relying on a nuclear component. The former Secretary of State also portrayed energy security as a primary NATO concern in the future.
Albright Addresses The Future Of NATO
Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Thursday on the future of NATO and how the coalition could evolve to meet twenty-first century threats.
Albright, who chaired a panel to determine NATO's Strategic Concept, called for a "comprehensive approach" - an idea to create a civilian arm of NATO forces, in part as a response to the alliance's experience over the past decade in nation-building in Afghanistan. Albright also emphasized that the framers of the new Strategic Concept did not want Afghanistan to be, "the be-all and end-all of NATO." She stated that there must be lessons learned from the mission, but that NATO's strategic outlook, "has to go beyond just Afghanistan."
As the Senate continues to weigh the ratification of the START Treaty, an arms reduction agreement between Russia and the U.S., Albright proclaimed that as long as nuclear arms exist "in the system," NATO will continue relying on a nuclear component. The former Secretary of State also portrayed energy security as a primary NATO concern in the future.