Episode #67: An Address from NATO's Secretary General
The Lawfare Podcast
The Lawfare Institute
4.7 • 6.4K Ratings
🗓️ 21 March 2014
⏱️ 66 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On March 19, the Brookings Center on the United States and Europe (CUSE) hosted NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen for a Statesman’s Forum address on the importance of the transatlantic alliance and how the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is evolving to address new common security challenges. As the crisis in Ukraine shows that security in the Euro-Atlantic area cannot be taken for granted, the secretary-general discussed NATO’s essential role in an unpredictable world. He outlined the agenda for the September NATO summit in Wales as a critical opportunity to ensure that the alliance has the military capabilities necessary to deal with the threats it now faces, to consider how NATO members can better share the collective burden of defense and to engage constructively with partners around the world.
Anders Fogh Rasmussen took office as North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s 12th secretary-general in August 2009. Previously, he served in numerous positions in the Danish government and opposition throughout his political career, including as prime minister of Denmark from November 2001 to April 2009.
Brookings Senior Fellow and CUSE Director Fiona Hill provided introductory remarks and moderated the discussion.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The following podcast contains advertising to access an ad-free version of the law |
| 0:07.0 | fair podcast become a material supporter of law fair at patreon.com slash law |
| 0:14.0 | fair. That's patreon.com slash law fair. Also check out law fair's other podcast |
| 0:21.0 | offerings, rational security, chatter, law fair no bull and the aftermath. |
| 0:29.0 | NATO's clear position has been to condemn Russia's military actions in Ukraine |
| 0:40.0 | to stand firmly in support of the government in Kiev and to make clear that |
| 0:47.0 | President Putin's decisions to escalate the situation have consequences. |
| 0:53.0 | As a first step we have suspended joint planning for a maritime |
| 0:59.0 | escort mission for the destruction of serious chemical weapons. |
| 1:03.0 | This would have been the first joint operation of the NATO Russia camp. |
| 1:07.0 | We also decided that no staff level civilian or military meetings with Russia |
| 1:13.0 | will take place for now and we have put the entire range of NATO |
| 1:18.0 | Russia cooperation under review. NATO foreign ministers will take decisions |
| 1:24.0 | when they meet in Brussels early next month. |
| 1:27.0 | I'm Benjamin Wittes and this is the law fair podcast March 21, 2014. |
| 1:34.0 | That was Anders Foll Rasmussen, Secretary General of NATO, speaking at the Brookings |
| 1:40.0 | Institution on Wednesday. Rasmussen, a former Prime Minister of Denmark, |
| 1:45.0 | talked about the value of NATO in this time of heightened tensions in Europe. |
| 1:50.0 | He talked about Russia and Ukraine and what the alliance is doing about Russia's move into the Crimea. |
| 1:56.0 | He talked about NATO expansion and why certain Balkan nations still aren't ready to join NATO. |
| 2:03.0 | He talked about the need for European countries to invest more in defense and he answered questions |
| 2:09.0 | from the audience. Introducing Rasmussen is Fiona Hill, Brookings Senior Fellow |
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