Biden’s Trio Of Strategic Goals At The 34th NATO Summit – OpEd
The US under the Biden administration hosted the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)’s 2024 Summit in Washington DC the city where the treaty was signed in 1949 to commemorate the alliance’s 75th anniversary. It was NATO’s 34th Summit that took place from July 9-11, 2024. It was attended by the Heads of State and Heads of Government of 32 countries including newest NATO member state Sweden and partners like Ukraine, Japan, the Republic of Korea, New-Zealand, Australia, and the European Union.
This Summit served as a platform for member states to uphold NATO’s foundational commitment to collective security, to discuss and coordinate policies, and to advance collective efforts to strengthen international peace and security. Moreover, this Summit holds significant importance for a number of reasons. First off, the alliance’s significance in safeguarding regional stability is highlighted by the fact that war has returned to Europe since February 2022. Second, the ongoing conflicts such as Israel’s war against Gaza serve as a reminder of the broader security issues faced by the world. Additionally, this is an election year in the US. President Biden through this Summit tried to reaffirm the US’ commitment to NATO and international security by demonstrating strong leadership to both domestic and global audiences.
The three primary objectives of the Washington Summit were strengthening NATO’s deterrence and defense, extending the alliance’s long-term support for Ukraine, and expanding NATO’s partnerships. In order to strengthen deterrence and promote unity a broad range of agreements were reached by NATO members. In the Washington Declaration, it was announced that over two-thirds (twenty-three) of the Allies had met their yearly defense spending pledge of at least 2% of GDP.
This is significant development because back in 2014 only three allies were allocating two percent of their GDP on defense. Apart from that, the summit reiterated the commitment to implementing the Defense Investment Pledge (DIP) as decided in Vilnius. Since 2014, European allies have raised their investment by almost one-third, amounting to $380 billion in total. In order to modernize NATO for a new era of collective defense leaders decided to fortify forward defenses, putting combat-ready forces on NATO’s Eastern Flank, and boosting NATO’s capacity to quickly support any ally that is under attack. Moreover, in order to strengthen the Alliance and increase its capacity to protect against potential enemies new defense strategies were implemented. These strategies included integrating new technologies and maintaining high readiness forces.
Additionally, NATO is accelerating the modernization of collective defense through large scale training exercises like Steadfast Defender 24 (the largest NATO exercise since the Cold War with 90,000 participants), increasing capabilities in line with the NATO Defense Planning Process, collective and joint procurement, and incorporating cyber and space defense into operations. The other major priorities included integrating Finland and Sweden into NATO plans, improving logistics, and bolstering command and control. Moreover, NATO leaders recognized that credible deterrence and defense also require enhanced transatlantic defense industrial collaboration, heightened resilience on a national and collective level, and the incorporation of civilian planning into defense planning.
The NATO Summit in Washington is the fifth one since the onset of the conflict in Ukraine. During these Summits, NATO has continuously denounced Russia’s actions, emphasizing the danger to Euro-Atlantic security posed by the Russia-Ukraine war. It is important to highlight that in the wake of Russia-Ukraine war, NATO adopted a new Strategic Concept 2022 during 32nd NATO Summit in Madrid, Spain which prominently names Russia as the “most significant and direct threat” to Euro-Atlantic security.
Along the same lines, the communiqué from the 2024 NATO annual summit stated “Russia remains the most significant and direct threat to allies.” Moreover, NATO expressed its support for Ukraine’s complete Euro-Atlantic integration, which includes joining NATO. This sentiment was captured in small and crucial statement that declared “Ukraine’s future lies within NATO.” In addition to that, the most significant of the several steps the NATO alliance took to support Ukraine’s effort was its announcement that it would give Ukraine at least 40 billion Euros ($43.28 billion) in military assistance over the course of the following year.
The two other initiatives confirmed by the allies include the establishment of the NATO-Ukraine Joint Analysis, Training and Education Centre (JATEC) to identify and apply lessons learned and increase Ukraine’s interoperability with NATO. They also agreed to establish NATO Security Assistance and Training for Ukraine (NSATU) to coordinate the provision of military hardware and training for Ukraine by allies and partners. These initiatives are in line with the US and allies approach, who have promised to support Kiev for “as long as it takes” to prevail.
As a response, Russia has repeatedly criticized the role of the US and West. It has accused the US of being a significant barrier to settling the Ukraine conflict and views the Conflict in Ukraine as part of wider US-led proxy war. Furthermore, Moscow highlight that it has consistently emphasized that NATO’s eastward expansion threatens its national security and territorial integrity. However, these warnings were ignored by the West led by the US.
At present, Moscow pins the blame on the US hostile policies towards Russia for the current reality in Ukraine. It doesn’t shy away from stating that NATO is de facto fully involved in the conflict over Ukraine. The Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also commented on the recent NATO summit. He stated that “It is an alliance created in the era of confrontation to maintain confrontation.” This summarizes Russia’s perspective on NATO and its directed criticism.
The third objective was to expand NATO’s partnerships. To further this goal, the recent summit marked the third consecutive summit in which the Asia-Pacific – 4 countries (Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and South Korea) participated. This was done on the recommendation of the US. It demonstrates that since Biden took office in 2021, he has prioritized the Asia-Pacific region and is also attempting to encourage European allies to do the same. Moreover, NATO’s engagement with the AP4 signifies its intent to expand its network of partnerships and address security issues outside of Europe, such as those in the Asia-Pacific region. NATO is trying to deepen collaboration with AP4 on emerging technologies, cyber security, maritime security, climate change, and hybrid threats.
Additionally, it highlighted NATO’s recognition of China as a major strategic and systemic challenge, signaling a shift towards a global perspective. The extension of the “Individually Tailored Partnership Program” (ITPP) to AP4 states is another example of how the alliance prioritizes addressing the growing geopolitical competition, especially between China and the US. The regular inclusion of AP4 at NATO summits is a deliberate effort to strengthen Euro-Atlantic ties with the Asia-Pacific region. The larger goal behind all this effort is to strengthen global security partnerships under the US leadership amid growing concerns about China’s potential use of force against Taiwan, Russia’s strengthened security connections with China, and North Korea’s nuclear weapons.
China expressed strong opposition to a statement in the Washington Declaration in which NATO accused Beijing for turning into “a decisive enabler of Russia’s war against Ukraine.”
In response to that the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said “The NATO Washington Summit Declaration exaggerates tensions in the Asia-Pacific region, which is filled with Cold War mentality and belligerent rhetoric.” In addition to that, many Chinese experts accused the US for increasing tensions in the Asia-Pacific for its self-interests. They view the US as the power that drives NATO’s expansion into the Asia-Pacific and concocting the Quad as the core platform to further its “Indo-Pacific Strategy” and hegemonic aims. If we take a holistic view, it is evident that the US is leading international efforts against China and Russia.
The Biden administration can take credit for notable successes like NATO expansion with Finland and Sweden and pushing 23 member states to meet defense spending targets. However, NATO faces a number of significant obstacles despite efforts and claims of progress. It includes growing Russia-China ties, Europe’s limited defense engagement in Asia, challenges in achieving strategic goals in Ukraine, and uncertainty surrounding US political stability. India is also reluctant to give up its relationship with Russia. These issues underscore the difficulties NATO encounters in expanding its influence and effectively countering global threats. If these problems are not resolved it will remain an uphill task to achieve the desired results. As the saying goes, “You can’t cross a chasm in two jumps.”
