2006 Riga Papers available

In preparation for the Riga summit, the German Marshall Fund has released five original policy papers it commissioned with the theme of  "Transforming NATO in a New Global Era."

The five Riga Papers are summarized below...

 

• Ronald D. Asmus and Richard C. Holbrooke on Re-reinventing NATO, which provides an ambitious American view on the Alliance's future from two individuals deeply involved in NATO reform in the 1990s.
• Christoph Bertram on NATO's Only Future: the West Abroad, which provides a European perspective on the Alliance's future from one of the foremost writers on NATO affairs on the continent.
• In NATO in the Age of Populism, Ivan Krastev analyzes the dangers of the rise of populism in Europe and the challenge that this presents for maintaining public support for the Alliance as well as effective decision-making as NATO trie to respond to new global threats.
• Žaneta Ozolina on Transforming NATO: the View from Latvia, which provides the perspective of a smaller, Northern European country on these issues and debates. This essay highlights the complexity of the challenge that NATO's transformation poses for smaller NATO members as well as ongoing priority and commitment to keeping NATO's door open for additional new members.
• The fifth and final Riga Paper is entitled NATO and Global Partners: Views from the Outside. Edited by Ronald Asmus, it consists of four essays contributed by authors from Israel, the Persian Gulf, Australia and Japan. These authors explore what their countries might expect from the Alliance in the future as NATO seeks to develop a new concept of global partnership.

(All five Riga Conference Papers (PDF - 9.2MB) in one large file for printing.)