Speech by NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer at the GMF Brussels Forum "The Future of NATO"

It must be a law of nature: The closer we move towards a NATO Summit, the more we get overwhelmed with organisational nitty-gritty. Do we have the right conference venue? Are the seating arrangements politically correct? Are our security precautions sufficient? After more than five years as NATO Secretary General, I know only too well how this kind of stuff can threaten to occupy our minds.

Thankfully, there is a reliable antidote to such pre-Summit tunnel vision, and it is called the German Marshal Fund. The GMF always focuses on the bigger picture, and Craig Kennedy and Ron Asmus and their team have done so once again today. They have asked me to offer some reflections on NATO’s future, and I am more than happy to oblige. Because I consider it crucial that we look beyond the next few weeks – beyond the Strasbourg/Kehl Summit – and examine NATO’s longer-term development. And, let me add, it is also necessary that we do so in an honest, open, and self-critical manner.

Read more