NATO at Chatham House

The Secretary General of Nato, Rasmussen, was at Chatham House this afternoon where he made a speech about security in the 21st Century. Basically what he said was that the Russians did not appreciate that Nato is not a threat and that they should relax and start dismantling some more of their missiles. Rasmussen also said that in his view there was no legal difference between drones and aircraft targeting enemies but Nato is only involved in the use of drones in Afghanistan and not in Pakistan. He did not comment on the use by the Americans of drones in the latter country. Rasmussen was asked about the Nato response to cyber attacks and answered that there are something like 100 cyber attacks on the various Nato systems a day and that therefore they have robust counter measures in place. He reminded us of the cyber attacks on Nato member Estonia in 2007 which resulted in a centre of excellence to deal with such attacks being set up in Tallinn the benefits of which are available to all Nato members. In Rasmussen's view Nato is an unrivalled organisation in the world as it has introduced compatibility in equipment and training and has structures in place which enable all member forces to act together. This is essential in today's world where Nato is changing its approach to one of providing a flexible and speedy response to conflict. Despite the Syrian attack on Turkish fighters he ruled out a Nato response to Syria's war on its civilians in part because of the stance being taken by Russia and China but also because the Syrian conflict is different from the Libyan one. The Libyan rebels were united and wanted outside help but different Syrian rebels have different agendas and some do not want outside help. Furthermore there was a UN resolution to protect the Libyan population whereas there isn't in the case of Syria. He dismissed the notion that the US is changing its focus to concentrate on its Asia/Pacific area to the detriment of Nato's main area of interest. Any problems in the Asia/Pacific region are also likely to concern Nato member states and thus Nato with its experience and structures is in a unique position to help with these. On a personal level it was disappointing that the cars supplied by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office for Rasmussen and his entourage were BMWs and Mercedes. This is Britain and so why doesn't our FCO use cars made here? It is a disgrace that it doesn't do so.