Panetta Cites Need for Greater Investment in NATO

05 October 2011

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta in Brussels for the NATO defense ministers' meeting October 5–6

U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told Europeans that NATO members need to take this moment to make the case for a greater investment in the alliance so it remains relevant to the security challenges of the future.

“We are nearing the end of a successful campaign in Libya, and are closer than ever to achieving our shared goals in Afghanistan,” Panetta said in an October 4 speech at Carnegie Europe, which is the Brussels branch of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

“But there is no doubt that this is also a time of challenge to the alliance,” he said. “The international security environment is complex and is rapidly changing.”

Many on both sides of the Atlantic have recognized that NATO nations are at a critical moment, he said. NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has warned about the risks of a weak and divided Europe unless it adequately invests in its own security, he said.

The United States and its NATO allies must depend on each other to share the burden of protecting common interests, Panetta told Europeans. And that requires each country to commit to addressing growing gaps in NATO military capabilities as members confront the challenges of fiscal austerity, he said.

Panetta said NATO efforts in Afghanistan and Libya show the necessity and effectiveness of the alliance; both missions also show growing gaps that need to be addressed.

These capability gaps are being exposed precisely when every defense minister in NATO is dealing with increasing fiscal challenges at home, Panetta said. He noted that by at least one estimate defense spending in Europe has fallen about 2 percent a year for a decade.

“As a result, much-needed modernization investment has been deferred,” Panetta said. The notion that the U.S. defense budget can cover alliance shortcomings is not true, he said.

“Make no mistake about it, we are facing dramatic cuts with real implications for alliance capability,” he said. As an example, Panetta said that as a result of agreements between President Obama and Congress, the Pentagon will cut more than $450 billion in spending over the next 10 years.

Defense spending and enhancing capabilities will continue to be a challenge for NATO alliance members, Panetta said, and will have to be addressed going into the 2012 NATO Summit that is scheduled for May 15–22 in Chicago. The NATO Summit will be held simultaneously with a Group of Eight Summit.

“We live in a world of growing danger and growing uncertainty, where we face threats from violent extremism, nuclear proliferation, rising powers, and from cyber attack,” Panetta said. “We cannot predict where the next crisis will occur. But we know that we are stronger when we confront these threats together.”

Panetta visited the Middle East to meet with Palestinian and Israeli leaders before traveling to Brussels for the annual NATO defense ministers’ meeting October 5–6. The NATO defense ministers are expected to discuss current operations in Afghanistan and Libya, as well as security in Kosovo and concerns about maritime piracy off the coast of Somalia.