Let's talk about the U.S. missile shield
Let's talk about the U.S. missile shield
By Kurt Beck
Copyright by The International Herald Tribune
Published: May 28, 2007
BERLIN: The project is inflicting great harm on the current climate between Russia and NATO, just when we need new confidence, indeed a new phase of détente.
The German presidency of the Group of 8 is right to have made climate change and the fight against poverty priority issues at the forthcoming summit meeting. Both are crucial for the future, since they have a strong ethical dimension and are directly related to an extended concept of security.
But that is by no means all. As chairman of the Social Democratic Party and prime minister of the federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate, in which American soldiers have enjoyed close ties with the population for decades, trans-Atlantic friendship is something that is very close to my heart.
People who cherish such friendship must talk about disarmament. Since 2001, global arms expenditure has increased by a quarter. In 2005, it amounted for the first time to the inconceivable sum of $1 trillion, 46 percent of which was spent by the United States alone.
Common sense tells us that there is a greater likelihood of terrorists getting their hands on weapons of mass destruction if more and more countries are in a position to produce them. That also applies to countries whose future direction is uncertain.
While we can rest assured that state players will not risk their own destruction if they play with fire, such deterrence-based logic is not valid for terrorist networks.
Disarmament policy must therefore be urgently re-established as a key regulatory principle in international relations. Major international disarmament regimes are already in shreds or have been completely destroyed.
A disarmament policy initiated by the West would generate considerable confidence and enhance our credibility when urging others to take steps to disarmament. But we must get strategic partners like Russia on board. Without them we will not be able to solve any of the pressing international problems.
That brings me to the current plans to deploy a U.S. missile defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic. If we are talking about common security then we need to have joint discussion on key means of attaining it.
The consultation processes within NATO and in the NATO-Russia Council must be extended. That means not only informing the members of these organizations about one's own plans, but also entertaining a willingness to abandon them if necessary.
There is a need, in other words, for joint consultation on whether the strategic analysis that may point to the need for such a missile defense system is indeed correct. There are considerable doubts about this in Europe - including in Poland and the Czech Republic.
The fact that the responsible subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives also has major reservations about the project has been met with great interest here in Germany.
Serious thought needs to be given to the political price for such a unilaterally enforced missile defense project - which is intended to respond to a threat that so far does not exist.
The project is inflicting great harm on the current climate between Russia and the United States/Europe, just when we need new confidence, indeed a new phase of détente.
Moreover, serious doubts have been expressed as to whether the defense system actually functions.
The United States has so far invested over $100 billion in the development of a defensive shield. That is a huge sum which, spent differently, could have achieved more for the security of the United States.
The world has arrived at a crossroads. It would be a ground-breaking decision if, acting in trans-Atlantic accord, we were to pave the way for a new round of global disarmament. In doing so, we would be sure of the support of the peoples of our countries and far beyond.
Kurt Beck is prime minister of the German federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate and chairman of the German Social Democratic Party.
By Kurt Beck
Copyright by The International Herald Tribune
Published: May 28, 2007
BERLIN: The project is inflicting great harm on the current climate between Russia and NATO, just when we need new confidence, indeed a new phase of détente.
The German presidency of the Group of 8 is right to have made climate change and the fight against poverty priority issues at the forthcoming summit meeting. Both are crucial for the future, since they have a strong ethical dimension and are directly related to an extended concept of security.
But that is by no means all. As chairman of the Social Democratic Party and prime minister of the federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate, in which American soldiers have enjoyed close ties with the population for decades, trans-Atlantic friendship is something that is very close to my heart.
People who cherish such friendship must talk about disarmament. Since 2001, global arms expenditure has increased by a quarter. In 2005, it amounted for the first time to the inconceivable sum of $1 trillion, 46 percent of which was spent by the United States alone.
Common sense tells us that there is a greater likelihood of terrorists getting their hands on weapons of mass destruction if more and more countries are in a position to produce them. That also applies to countries whose future direction is uncertain.
While we can rest assured that state players will not risk their own destruction if they play with fire, such deterrence-based logic is not valid for terrorist networks.
Disarmament policy must therefore be urgently re-established as a key regulatory principle in international relations. Major international disarmament regimes are already in shreds or have been completely destroyed.
A disarmament policy initiated by the West would generate considerable confidence and enhance our credibility when urging others to take steps to disarmament. But we must get strategic partners like Russia on board. Without them we will not be able to solve any of the pressing international problems.
That brings me to the current plans to deploy a U.S. missile defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic. If we are talking about common security then we need to have joint discussion on key means of attaining it.
The consultation processes within NATO and in the NATO-Russia Council must be extended. That means not only informing the members of these organizations about one's own plans, but also entertaining a willingness to abandon them if necessary.
There is a need, in other words, for joint consultation on whether the strategic analysis that may point to the need for such a missile defense system is indeed correct. There are considerable doubts about this in Europe - including in Poland and the Czech Republic.
The fact that the responsible subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives also has major reservations about the project has been met with great interest here in Germany.
Serious thought needs to be given to the political price for such a unilaterally enforced missile defense project - which is intended to respond to a threat that so far does not exist.
The project is inflicting great harm on the current climate between Russia and the United States/Europe, just when we need new confidence, indeed a new phase of détente.
Moreover, serious doubts have been expressed as to whether the defense system actually functions.
The United States has so far invested over $100 billion in the development of a defensive shield. That is a huge sum which, spent differently, could have achieved more for the security of the United States.
The world has arrived at a crossroads. It would be a ground-breaking decision if, acting in trans-Atlantic accord, we were to pave the way for a new round of global disarmament. In doing so, we would be sure of the support of the peoples of our countries and far beyond.
Kurt Beck is prime minister of the German federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate and chairman of the German Social Democratic Party.
posted by Carlos T Mock at 8:30 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home