DATE=4/21/99 TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT NUMBER=5-43181 TITLE=NATO AT 50 BYLINE=RON PEMSTEIN DATE=BRUSSELS CONTENT= VOICED AT: INTRO: NATO HAS UNDERGONE MANY CHANGES SINCE ITS FOUNDING 50 YEARS AGO. V-O-A CORRESPONDENT RON PEMSTEIN REVIEWS SOME OF THOSE DEVELOPMENTS AS THE ALLIANCE REACHES MIDDLE AGE. TEXT: BEFORE 12 COUNTRIES SIGNED THE WASHINGTON TREATY ESTABLISHING NATO IN 1949, BELGIUM, BRITAIN, FRANCE, LUXEMBOURG AND THE NETHERLANDS SIGNED A 50-YEAR DEFENSIVE ALLIANCE KNOWN AS THE BRUSSELS TREATY. ONE OF THE AIMS OF THE BRUSSELS TREATY WAS TO CONVINCE THE UNITED STATES THAT THE EUROPEANS COULD ORGANIZE THEMSELVES TO DEFEND THEIR SECURITY. HOWEVER, IN 1948, POST-WAR ISOLATIONISM WAS STRONG IN THE UNITED STATES. WHAT CHANGED THE AMERICAN ATTITUDE WAS THE SOVIET BLOCKADE OF BERLIN IN JUNE, 1948, AND THE SUBSEQUENT AIRLIFT TO SUPPLY THE CITY. IN THE MIDST OF THAT, THE EUROPEANS WERE ABLE TO NEGOTIATE AN ALLIANCE WITH THE UNITED STATES . CANADA, ICELAND, DENMARK, NORWAY, ITALY AND PORTUGAL JOINED AS WELL, GIVING THE ALLIANCE MORE OF AN ATLANTIC CHARACTER THAN A PURELY CONTINENTAL EUROPEAN ONE. /// OPT WHEN THE 12 COUNTRIES SIGNED THE WASHINGTON TREATY IT WAS THOUGHT A DECLARATION OF INTENTIONS WOULD BE ENOUGH TO DETER ANY MORE SOVIET THREATS TO WESTERN EUROPE. /// OPT /// THE KOREAN WAR CONVINCED NATO PLANNERS THAT SOMETHING MORE THAN A TREATY ON PAPER WOULD BE NEEDED TO PROTECT WEST GERMANY FROM THE SOVIET THREAT. ONE YEAR AFTER THE WASHINGTON TREATY WAS SIGNED, NATO LEADERS RE SHAPED NATO INTO A MILITARY ORGANIZATION WITH AN INTEGRATED COMMAND STRUCTURE AND A SUPREME COMMANDER. THE FIRST ONE WAS AMERICAN GENERAL DWIGHT EISENHOWER. HIS JOB WAS TO CONVINCE THE EUROPEANS THAT THEY NEEDED TO REBUILD THEIR MILITARIES AFTER WORLD WAR TWO. /// END OPT /// BY 1952, NATO FORMED A POLITICAL COUNCIL WITH A EUROPEAN SECRETARY-GENERAL. GREECE AND TURKEY WERE ADDED AS MEMBERS TO GIVE NATO A SOUTHERN FLANK. THE CURRENT TURKISH AMBASSADOR TO NATO, ONUR OYMEN (PRONOUNCED ER-MEN), SAYS NATO MET TURKEY'S NEEDS DURING THE COLD WAR. /// OYMEN ACT /// FOR US, NATO IS THE MOST IMPORTANT ELEMENT OF EUROPEAN SECURITY. WE HAVE GAINED, NOT ONLY TURKEY, BUT ALL EUROPEAN ALLIES, HAVE GAINED A LOT DURING THE PERIOD OF COLD WAR. AND FOR US, NATO WAS THE MAIN ELEMENT OF DETERRENCE AGAINST THE POSSIBLE AGGRESSOR. SO IF IN THE LAST 50 YEARS, EUROPE LIVES IN PEACE AND SECURITY IN GENERAL IT IS MAINLY DUE TO NATO AND TO THE CONTRIBUTION OF DIFFERENT ALLIES. /// END ACT /// DURING THE 1950'S, NATO WAS MAINLY AN AMERICAN DOMINATED ALLIANCE. THERE WAS AN IMBALANCE BETWEEN THE AMERICAN MILITARY COMMANDER AND A WEAK EUROPEAN SECRETARY-GENERAL. SMALLER EUROPEAN NATIONS COMPLAINED THEIR INTERESTS WERE BEING IGNORED. WITH THE ADDED MEMBERSHIP OF WEST GERMANY, THE SOVIET UNION RESPONDED BY FORMING THE WARSAW PACT ALONG WITH ITS ALLIES IN EASTERN EUROPE. THE NUCLEAR SUPPORT OF THE UNITED STATES KEPT EUROPE SECURE THROUGH THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE BERLIN WALL AND THE CUBA MISSILE CRISIS. HOWEVER, TENSIONS OVER THE NUCLEAR MISSILES OF FRANCE LED FRENCH PRESIDENT CHARLES DE GAULLE TO TAKE HIS COUNTRY OUT OF NATO'S MILITARY COMMAND. IN 1966, NATO MOVED ITS MILITARY AND CIVILIAN HEADQUARTERS OUT OF PARIS HERE TO BELGIUM. THE FRENCH WITHDRAWAL FROM THE MILITARY COMMAND LET THE SMALLER COUNTRIES EXERCISE MORE INFLUENCE IN POLICY MAKING . THEY PUSHED NATO TO BE MORE ACTIVE IN EASING TENSIONS WITH MOSCOW, A POLICY KNOWN AS DETENTE. /// OPT /// NATO BEGAN TALKS WITH THE WARSAW PACT ABOUT REDUCING CONVENTIONAL FORCES IN EUROPE. EUROPEAN TENSION WITH THE UNITED STATES AROSE ABOUT SUCH ISSUES AS THE NEUTRON BOMB AND MEDIUM RANGE MISSILES. DESPITE SOVIET AND LEFTIST OPPOSITION, NATO DEPLOYED THE PERSHING MISSILES WHILE PLEDGING TO CONTINUE ARMS CONTROL NEGOTIATIONS. /// END OPT /// THE FALL OF THE BERLIN WALL IN 1989 SURPRISED NATO. QUESTIONS WERE RAISED ABOUT THE RELEVANCE OF NATO WHEN THE SOVIET UNION AND THE WARSAW PACT NO LONGER EXISTED. NATO DEVELOPED A NEW CONCEPT OF REGIONAL SECURITY AND CONFLICT RESOLUTION AND A PROGRAM TO MAKE FORMER ADVERSARIES PARTNERS OF NATO. AFTER NOT FIRING A SHOT IN ANGER DURING THE COLD WAR, NATO FINALLY DROPPED BOMBS ON THE BOSNIAN SERBS IN 1995 FOR 11 DAYS TO BRING ABOUT A PEACE AGREEMENT. NATO ORGANIZED THE PEACEKEEPING FORCES THAT PATROL BOSNIA TODAY. /// OPT /// TURKISH AMBASSADOR OYMEN SAYS BOSNIA REPRESENTED A CHANGE IN ATTITUDE FOR NATO. /// OPT // OYMEN ACT TWO /// UNTIL THE BOSNIAN CRISIS, TO TALK ABOUT OUT OF AREA IN NATO WAS A SORT OF TABOO. NOBODY WAS TALKING, EVEN THINKING ABOUT NATO'S RESPONSIBILITIES OUT OF AREA. IT MEANS IN THE EUROPEAN CONTINENT OUTSIDE NATO TERRITORIES. BUT WITH BOSNIA, WE UNDERSTAND THAT NATO SHOULD ALSO HAVE A RESPONSIBILITY IN THE MAINTENANCE OF PEACE AND STABILITY IN THE CONTINENT. THEREFORE, NATO WAS ACTIVELY ENGAGED IN BOSNIA, AND WE WERE SUCCESSFUL. //// END ACT // END OPT /// AFTER SPAIN BECAME A MEMBER IN 1982, NATO'S MEMBERSHIP STAYED FROZEN UNTIL ANOTHER CHANGE, ENLARGING TO FORMER ADVERSARIES IN EASTERN EUROPE. LAST MONTH, HUNGARY, POLAND AND THE CZECH REPUBLIC BROUGHT NATO'S MEMBERSHIP TO 19. /// OPT /// AT THE TIME, CZECH PRIME MINISTER MILOS ZEMAN TOLD NATO HIS COUNTRY'S MEMBERSHIP COINCIDES WITH ANOTHER KEY POINT IN NATO'S HISTORY. /// OPT // ZEMAN ACT /// THERE ARE STILL REGIONS IN EUROPE WHICH ARE STILL IN THE GRIPS OF THE PAST. THE DEVELOPMENT IN THE FORMER YUGOSLAVIA IS PARTICULARLY TRAGIC. THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY MUST TAKE A STRONG STAND AGAINST AGGRESSION, VIOLATIONS OF HUMAN RIGHTS, AND SUPPRESSION OF BASIC FREEDOM. THE CZECH REPUBLIC TAKES PART IN THIS EFFORT. THE OPTIONS ARE NEVER EASY AND THEY REQUIRE A LOT OF COURAGE, PATIENCE, PERSEVERANCE AND RESOURCES BUT IT IS MY FIRM CONVICTION THAT THE TIME IS ON OUR SIDE. /// END ACT // END OPT /// BY LAUNCHING AIR STRIKES AGAINST YUGOSLAVIA ON MARCH 24TH, NATO OPENED A NEW CHAPTER IN ITS MIDDLE AGE -- AIR STRIKES AGAINST A SOVEREIGN NATION, YUGOSLAVIA, WITH NO END IN SIGHT. NATO'S CURRNT MILITARY COMMANDER, WESLEY CLARK, SET OUT THE MISSION IN YUGOSLAVIA. /// CLARK ACT /// WE AIM TO PUT HIS MILITARY AND SECURITY FORCES AT RISK. WE'RE GOING TO SYSTEMATICALLY AND PROGRESSIVELY ATTACK, DISRUPT, DEGRADE, DEVASTATE AND ULTIMATELY UNLESS PRESIDENT MILOSEVIC COMPLIES WITH THE DEMANDS OF THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY WE'RE GOING TO DESTROY THESE FORCES AND THEIR FACILITIES AND SUPPORT. IN THAT RESPECT THE OPERATION WILL BE JUST AS LONG AND DIFFICULT AS PRESIDENT MILOSEVIC REQUIRES IT TO BE. /// END ACT /// NATO HAS COME A LONG WAY SINCE THE SIGNING OF THE WASHINGTON TREATY IN APRIL, 1949. WHAT ITS FUTURE MISSION WILL BE IS BEING DETERMINED BY GENERAL CLARK'S SUCCESS IN KEEPING HIS PROMISE IN KOSOVO. (SIGNED) NEB/RDP/JWH 21-Apr-99 8:19 AM EDT (1219 UTC) NNNN Source: Voice of America .