The Role of NATO
The political strategy for NATO that we agreed upon last May makes the promotion of greater freedom in the East a basic element of alliance policy. Accordingly, NATO should promote human rights, democracy, and reform within Eastern countries as the best means of encouraging reconciliation among the countries of Eastern and Western Europe.
This effort recalls the origin of NATO as a political alliance of nations sharing the same fundamental values, a foundation on which I expect NATO will increasingly build in this new age of Europe.
Alliance support for reform and positive change in the East needs to be broad, multifaceted, and flexible. It should not only be a question of economic assistance -- as important as that might be -- but of steps to support greater political pluralism, open up flows of information, develop needed technical expertise, and provide through our defense and arms control efforts a stable security environment for individual European states, both East and West. This fits the concept of "New Missions for NATO" which I proposed when I was here last May for our summit.
But we also must remain constant with NATO's traditional security mission. The potential for strife is inherent in any period of fundamental political transition. In seeking and preparing peaceful change, this alliance also must remain a reliable guarantor of peace in Europe, as it has been for 40 years. It unites the free states of the Atlantic community in sharing risks and responsibilities as we work together to nurture and guide the development of a new Europe.
As a defensive alliance and partnership of democracies, NATO should not be seen as threatening by the East; rather, it can help manage peaceful change in Europe in a way that preserves security and stability for all states. A healthy NATO will support both moves toward greater unity within Western Europe as well as the dissolution of barriers with the East.
Although this is a time of great hope, we must not blur the distinction between promising expectations and present realities. My government therefore remains committed to the alliance strategy for the prevention of war based on a mix of nuclear and conventional forces. I pledge today that the United States will maintain significant military forces in Europe as long as our allies desire our presence as part of a common security effort. As I said at NATO earlier this year, the United States will remain a European power. That means the United States will stay engaged in the future of Europe and in our common defense.
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Similarly, we need to give thought to how the alliance can best maintain, in the midst of change, deterrence at the lowest possible level of forces. For that reason, I am prepared to look with an open mind at ways in which we can together achieve even lower levels of conventional and nuclear forces in Europe as part of a negotiated agreement.
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