15.º Seminário da AJPA - Convite - 24 a 31 de Julho

Caríssimos(as) colegas e amigos(as),

A Comissão Portuguesa do Atlântico e a Associação da Juventude Portuguesa do Atlântico têm o enorme prazer em convidá-los a participar no 15.º Seminário da Associação da Juventude Portuguesa do Atlântico, que decorrerá na Base Aérea N.º 1, em Sintra, entre os dias 24 (chegadas) e 31 (partidas) de Julho de 2010, subordinado ao tema "NATO's New Strategic Concept: road to Lisbon".

Para obter a documentação necessária para efectuar a candidatura solicitamos que nos envie um e-mail para secretariadoajpa@gmail.com. Pedimos a todos os interessados que nos façam chegar a ficha de inscrição e a documentação adicional necessária até ao dia 30 de Junho de 2010.

Com os melhores cumprimentos

Newsletter CPA/AJPA - N.º 3 - Setembro 2009

O n.º 3 da Newsletter da CPA/AJPA já está disponível, aqui.

Este é um número especial, em inglês, relativo ao 14.º Seminário da AJPA, que teve lugar na Escola Naval, Alfeite, entre 1 e 8 de Agosto, tendo como tema principal o Novo Conceito Estratégico da NATO.

PAYS Day 7 - Presentation of NSC Drafts and Seminar Reports by the participants

The seminar was concluded with the presentation of the New Strategic Concepts drafted by the participants and their reports on this week. The documents will be available soon in the blog and our site.

PAYS Day 7 - "The Lisbon Summit, the Lisbon Young Atlanticist Summit and the New Strategic Concept"

On the 7th of August 2009 took place the last day of the 14th Portuguese Youth Atlantic Treaty Association. This final day resulted in the most important day of debate, since the participants had the chance to listen the NATO Assistant Secretary General for Public Diplomacy, Mr. Jean François Bureau, who gave an interesting lecture about the challenges NATO is facing and how is it being planned to cope with these new problematic. The panel of speakers was also composed by H.E. Ambassador Manuel Tomás Fernandes Pereira, Portuguese Permanent Representative at NATO and by Professor Carlos Gaspar, Director of the Portuguese International Relations Institute.

Both speakers tried to focus on different perspectives allowing a better comprehension about the topic in discussion: The Lisbon Summit, the Lisbon Young Atlanticist Summit and the New Strategic Concept. This conference must be seen as extremely important, once it was the first step, the first debate in the long run to the definition of the New Strategic Concept. As the speakers agreed, “The eyes of the World are in Lisbon today, and this Seminar is fundamental for the brainstorming and debate”. 

Accordingly with the topic in debate, Mr. Jean François Bureau raised some key questions, from the most importance to the future of NATO: How is it possible to manage the difference between Defence and Security (regarding the article 5 commitments); the new emerging threats, such as Energy, Terrorism, Ciberterrorism, augment of Arms of Massive Destruction; the relationship between NATO countries and the world. 

As such, Mr. Jean François Bureau believes that the discussion of this New Strategic Concept must be as wide as possible. NATO is trying to involve people, showing that everyone will be heard and their thoughts will be taken into account in the decision making. As so, Mr. Bureau presented an Organization with new objectives, open to the public debate, enrolled in the “battle of the new technologies”, searching for comprehension and legitimacy to ensure the evolving process of NATO.

Following this remarks, the Portuguese Ambassador stated that the future of the Organization and the future of the world was being discussed in this conference, by participants from different nationalities, whose different points of view are extremely important to better adapt NATO to the new challenges above mentioned. The Portuguese Ambassador focused on more practical speech, reinforcing the importance of a clearer and open debate. As so, the Lisbon Summit is going to be a huge event, with a large participation. Portugal is really important in all this process, because of its old History, which allows it to play an important role in creating and stimulating the proximity and the debate, not only between NATO member countries but also non-member countries and international organizations.

As so, the main topics in the Lisbon Summit of 2010 are going to be: Security and Defence; the acceptance of the roadmap designed by the 12 international experts (in this roadmap the public opinion will have the chance to attend several other events, debates, conferences, seminars, where the discussion will take place, contributing to the wider debate that is suppose to achieve); the importance of the definition of a shorter strategic concept, different from the one in 1999, with 65 paragraphs. To sum up stated that “people that are interested in this issue will give good ideas to be reflected by the decision makers”. 

Professor Carlos Gaspar gave a more academic speech, referring some polemic issues around this topic. The first note regarded the fact that since 1991 this is going to be the 3rd Strategic Concept. Secondly, stated that for the first time, the public debate is at NATO’s concerns. Bearing this in mind, the Professor reminded a paradox, emerging from the fact NATO needs to change but, at the same time, some people believe that NATO is a well succeeded organization, the one that won the Cold War. As such, it is quite complicate to combine both. Consequently, the debate around the New Strategic Concept is going to take place in a period of deep divisions, mainly related with the “nature of NATO”, as regional defence alliance or a global defence alliance; relation between NATO and other international actors, such as European Union and the role of the United States of America inside the Organization. 

Regarding the division between regional and global, affirmed that the first one can kill NATO due to its lack of ambition; the second one can kill NATO due to its excess of ambition. As so, a third way is emerging, related with deterrence, aiming to conciliate not only the interests of the member countries but also of the other international actors.

To sum up, it can be said that the main objective of the New Strategic Concept circulates around the need of legitimacy and recognition by the international public opinion, in order to better understand the role NATO in the world as a stabiliser, fundamental to the security of nations and their citizens. 

Jorge Piteira Martins

PAYS Day 6 - Policy-making simulation

In the 6th day the participants were divided in groups and worked on drafting the New Strategic Concept as well as on the Seminar Reports to be presented in the next day. The Drafts and the Report will soon be available online.

PAYS Day 5 - Visit to NATO Joint Command Lisbon

The fifth day of the 14th PAYS started with the traditional visit to NATO Joint Command Lisbon. After being welcomed by General Pinheiro, Deputy Commander of JCL, the participants were briefed on NATO's organization by Lieutenant Colonel Ciprian Radulescu. That intervention was followed by a more operational briefing by Lieutenant Colonel Chris Scully, who gave the participants an important and interesting insight in what concerns the anti-piracy operations that NATO is running in the Gulf of Aden.

PAYS kicks off

The 14th Portuguese Atlantic Youth Seminar, taking place in the Alfeite Naval Academy, started Saturday (1st of August), with more than thirty participants. The seminar presentation panel counted with Rear Admiral Luís Macieira Fragoso, Alfeite Naval Academy Commander, Mr. Bernardino Gomes, Executive President of the Portuguese Atlantic Treaty Association, Giuseppe Belardetti, President of the Youth Atlantic Treaty Association and Samuel de Paiva Pires, President of the Portuguese Atlantic Youth Association, as introductory speakers and with Professor António Vitorino as its keynote speaker. Professor Vitorino, former European Commissioner for Justice and Home Affairs, is spoken of as a possible nominee for NATO’s wise-men group.

The keynote speech was, as is this seminar, focused on the Alliance’s new strategic concept that is scheduled to be discussed and adopted in Lisbon, during the next year. Professor Vitorino explained that it has always been the basic political guideline of the Organization and its members. It proved to be vital for the adaptation and evolution of NATO troughout it’s sixty years of existence. However unlike the time when the “Iron Curtain” fell, 9/11 proved to be a bigger challenge for NATO. In the Professor’s wording the Alliance hasn’t yet adapted as well to this new paradigm of the XXI century, where it is facing threats from both conventional and unconventional forces, where the line distinguishing defence and national security has faded.

Despite the apparent difficulties to adopt a new strategic concept, Mr. Vitorino believes that now is a better time than ever to give the Alliance the conditions it needs to adapt to a post-9/11 world. He stated that the change of the US’s views on an EU Defence Community since Istanbul, the French reintegration in the military command structure, and the personal charisma of Barack Obama are some of many contributing factors that demise a previously sore relationship, opening room for the strengthening of links.

The spokesperson introduced 4 main issues with which NATO is faced with and that should guide us throughout the upcoming week. First is the evaluation of the re-implementation of the collective defence policy adapted to today’s and tomorrow’s world. Then, he referred the urgent need for the redefinition of what are considered to be the alliance’s main threats. Thirdly, a question about whether NATO should remain mainly a political and military organisation or if it should broaden its nature and include other structures, with different specialties. Finally, he deemed it necessary to mention the way the European public opinion understands the Alliance and the need for that to be changed.

As the lecture finished, many questions were raised and a lot of discussion followed, fulfilling the objective of this first concept: to introduce debate over the new strategic concept among participants.