Mr TransAtlantic: behind the scenes
In your previous roles and postings,
you’ve been heavily
involved in defence and security.
Did any of these positions
help prepare you
for the role
of US Ambassador to NATO?
I didn't have the diplomatic
background to make sure that
how do you promote America's
interests in an Alliance as such
in a way
that is embraced by others.
That’s what I have learned.
It helps not to have been
at every communiqué negotiation
in the last ten years or to have
to work with the close instructions
that you have from the government,
to come with a fresh view and say:
Why are we doing it this way?
Isn't there another way to do this
and make sure
that the Alliance's interests
and the interests
of the members are advanced?
And I think as we get close
to a Summit in Chicago,
we're seeing that being able
to project a vision
from how it moves forward,
having that strategic kind of sense
of this Alliance enables you,
if you play the cards right,
to lead this Alliance in a way
that perhaps it hasn't been
for quite some time.
The importance
of partners was illustrated
during the operation in Libya in 2011
and over many years in Afghanistan.
Is partnership becoming as important
as membership in NATO?
It is in the world's interest
to have a secure Afghanistan,
which is why
so many countries, 22 in all,
are now joining
the 28 NATO allies to ensure
that we are implementing our
strategy in Afghanistan successfully.
It is in the world's interest
that we find a way to deal
with the scourge of piracy,
which is why NATO is working
with the EU and 19 other countries
to make sure that the seas in
the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea
are free of pirates
or that pirates cannot succeed.
It was in the world's interest that
the people of Libya could be
protected
against its own government,
which is why NATO worked
with partners in the Middle East
and North Africa to ensure
that there would be stability.
That is how NATO uses partnerships
to create a global network for security
of which NATO stands at the hub.
What do you do to put
distance between yourself
and the politics of NATO
when you have some free time?
I try to spend as much time with
my family as I can, to be honest.
We travel to different places.
We've had
the extraordinary opportunity
to live in Europe
and be able to go to different places.
And spending time
with your family when this is a job
that can drain five, six,
sometimes seven days a week,
having that opportunity to take
some time off and see new places,
taste some new food,
and remember that through
the internet you can always follow
what is happening in baseball,
and make sure that that remains
part of who you are and what you do.