Carter Stresses Need for Security Networks to Confront New Threats
By Jim Garamone DoD News, Defense Media Activity
WASHINGTON, October 5, 2015 – It takes a network to beat a network, Defense Secretary Ash Carter said this morning in Madrid at Spain's National Center for Advanced Studies of National Security, the Spanish equivalent of the National Defense University.
"Today's security environment requires the kind of enduring and positive connections we've had for decades with Spain, our fellow NATO allies, and many other nations around the world," the secretary said.
The problems facing the world today are not limited by geography and solutions are not solely in the province of the military, he said.
"[The problems] are best dealt with through networked, multi-lateral partnerships -- NATO being an example of one," the secretary said.
The NATO model is important because the alliance has proved to be agile and able to adapt to the changing environment, he said.
"Depending on where they are in the world, these kinds of networked connections among nations will inevitably take on many forms -- from formal alliances and coalitions such as in Europe and the Middle East, to shared regional security architecture in the Asia-Pacific," he said.
The United States will continue to cultivate cooperative security partnerships "that are strong enough, capable enough, and connected enough to give nations and their peoples the security and the opportunity to rise and thrive in this still-young century," Carter said.
But to be effective all nations must share the burden for today and tomorrow, the secretary said.
"To borrow a concept from information technology, a modern effective security alliance must be at its core a distributed architecture, one capable of balancing the load and routing demands between voluntary participants in order to provide the flexibility to handle unforeseen challenges," Carter said. "That's what a network really is. And that's an alliance at its best."
By their very nature, networks are more responsive to changes that occur in the world around them, the secretary said. And they need to be in this rapidly changing environment.
Threatened on Two Fronts
Within NATO, threats from the South and East are testing the alliance.
"Here on NATO's southern flank, nations like Spain are contending with the ripple effects of [the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant] and other extremists exploiting instability in the Middle East and North Africa, with terrorism and state instability putting tremendous pressures on the region," Carter said. "People seeking work and opportunity, and entire families flee for the safety of Europe, overwhelming the ability of many nations to help them."
Thousands of radicalized individuals have left Europe to fight in Syria and Iraq, and some have tried to return, he said.
"The 20th century playbook was successful in creating a Europe whole, free and at peace, but it isn't going to help us respond to these complex challenges," the secretary said. "Together we must write a new playbook for the 21st century, one that confronts the root causes of instability and embraces cooperation -- not only through bilateral relations between two nations, but also through fostering teamwork among nations and institutions."
One example he cited was that NATO defense ministers will meet with representatives of the European Union to discuss how NATO and the EU can further strengthen cooperation.
Bilateral relations, of course, are still important, and the secretary thanked Spain for hosting Aegis destroyers at Rota and the U.S. special purpose Marine air-ground task force stationed in Morón.
More has to happen, Carter said. NATO countries agreed to invest 2 percent of gross domestic product on defense. "We all made that commitment to each other, and we all have a responsibility to live up to it -- not only Spain, but every NATO ally," he said.
"ISIL poses a grave threat to Europe, the United States and our friends and allies around the world because of its steady metastasis and its evil intentions," he said. "That is why we formed a global coalition of over 60 nations, including Spain, to deny ISIL its safe haven and deliver it a lasting defeat."
Threat from the East
The threat to the East is Russia, Carter said. "Russia has used political, economic, and military tools to undermine the sovereignty and territorial integrity of neighboring countries, flouted international legal norms and destabilized the European security order by attempting to annex Crimea and continuing to fuel further violence in eastern Ukraine," he said.
The United States and its allies will take all necessary steps to deter Russia's malign and destabilizing influence, coercion and aggression, Carter said. "At the same time, we will continue to be open to cooperating with Russia where our interests align, and we will leave the door open for Russia to rejoin the community of respectable nations," he said.
"To do this, we'll leverage strong and modern U.S. forces -- the finest fighting force the world has even known -- and an adaptive and agile NATO working from a new play book, which includes preparing to counter new challenges, like cyber and hybrid warfare, as well as adjusting our posture and presence to help facilitate training and exercises and help make our forces more mobile and responsive," the secretary said.
Carter also addressed Russia's actions in Syria, where it seems the threats from the East and South converge. The coalition members are concerned about Russia's behavior in Syria.
"Russia says it intends to fight ISIL on the one hand but support [Syrian President] Bashar al-Assad on the other," Carter said. "By taking military action in Syria against moderate groups, Russia has escalated the civil war, putting further at risk the very political resolution and preservation of Syria's structure of future governance it says that it wants. This approach is tantamount to pouring gasoline on the fire of civil war."
Russia's strategy in Syria won't work, he said. "The Assad regime cannot last -- the only question is what will happen to Syria and the region when it falls," Carter said.
The U.S. position is clear that a lasting defeat of ISIL and extremism in Syria can only be achieved if pursued in parallel with a political transition in Syria, the secretary said. "It remains my hope that Russia will see that tethering Russia to a sinking ship is a losing strategy, and will decide to confront the threat presented by ISIL instead of continuing its unilateral airstrikes against Assad's opposition," he said.
The secretary called on Russian leaders to work with NATO and the coalition as they once did during the Bosnia crisis -- a move that finally brought peace to the Balkans.
"Successful security cooperation today must be more than networked -- it must also be principled," Carter said. "There is a reason why Russia finds itself clinging to a coalition of two in Syria, while Spain and the United States enjoy the support of 60 nations. The positive and enduring partnerships the United States and Spain have cultivated through NATO and around the world are built upon our common values, and reflect the way we conduct ourselves.
"Nations know what we stand for," he continued. "They know how we do things and why. They know we treat them as equals, and we take their interests into account. It is clear that we do things better when we do them together."
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
