It is almost a cliche, but all that was old is new again – and it is very true with NATO today.
For the over-50 crowd, it seems that every few months we find something that those running the alliance have found hidden in the attic, brushed off and thought, “Why did we get rid of this again?”
Building off the GIUK Gap revival of earlier this year, look what is showing up again;
A new maritime command in the U.S., modeled after the Supreme Allied Command in the Cold War, is to organize the safe passage of soldiers and materiel to Europe. The sea route, many high-ranking NATO officers believe, could prove to be the alliance’s Achilles heel in a worst-case scenario. In classified meetings focused on command reform, analysts have warned that Russian submarines are present in the Atlantic, though they go largely undetected. Attacks on NATO troop convoys could hardly be defended against as things currently stand.
But the distribution of supplies in Europe is also problematic, a concern that an additional command is to address. Its task would be that of planning and safeguarding logistics between Central Europe and NATO member states to the east. The hope is to ensure mobility and to better protect areas west of the alliance’s outer border. While the concept may sound rather technical, it is actually nothing less than the rebirth of the mobilization concept adhered to during the Cold War.
The date may change, but the basic elements of logistics; time, space, and geography haven’t.
The above pull quote comes from an article in Der Spiegel that should garner your full attention.
…a report marked “NATO SECRET” has been circulating in headquarters in Brussels that unsparingly lists the alliance’s weaknesses. Under the innocuous title “Progress Report on the Alliance’s Strengthened Deterrence and Defense Posture,” the authors arrive at the shocking conclusion that “NATO’s ability to logistically support rapid reinforcement in the much-expanded territory covering SACEUR’s (Supreme Allied Commander Europe) area of operation has been atrophied since the end of the Cold War.”
Good stuff – but it also highlights that NATO is in many ways a shadow of what it used to be. Even with our newer members, NATO continues to be a sub-optimal organization because what should be a core strength, Germany, refuses to take its rightful place.
For Berlin, leading the new command is an attractive prospect. It would mean an important task for Germany, which has repeatedly been pushed by other alliance members to take on a more significant role. Domestically, the project would likely also be unproblematic, even if the Green Party becomes part of the next government. The plan, after all, doesn’t call for Germany to send troops into battle. It merely envisions the country supplying staff personnel, the kind of task that German political leaders enjoy taking on the most.
Those of us who served in ISAF know that mentality well in our alliance. As I proposed about a year ago, we need to start enforcing proper levels of participation. Still well below 2% of GDP in spending – Germany has not demonstrated that is has earned that new HQ. Give it to Poland.
On a not unrelated note – with Russia again stretching in the Baltic – I have some ideas for new spending for Germany;
Germany has been left with no working submarines after the country’s last operational vessel crashed into rocks and damaged its propeller.
The German navy admitted yesterday that it would not be able to put a single submarine to sea for the rest of the year after the accident to U-35 during a dive off the coast of Norway.
While nothing like the feared naval power it was during the Second World War the U-boat fleet was a vital part of Cold War defences in the Baltic Sea and continues to play an active role in monitoring Russian maritime activity.
Navy sources have complained of cutbacks and shortages of spare parts which have led to delays in repairs and called into question Germany’s Nato commitment.
I think NATO has enough German staff officers right now, thank you. I guess Poland will cover your Baltic approaches with a few Cold War ear Soviet and Norwegian submarines.
