HEADQUARTERS NATO RAPID DEPLOY- ABLE CORPS- GREECE :
ww . nrdc . gr
Nato Strategic Direction - South
By COL Themistoklis Nikoglou ( GRC )
NATO ' s Strategic Direction South ( NSD-S ) is the terminology used to describe NA- TO ’ s Southern Flank framework concept as it covers the Middle East , North Africa and Sahel , and Sub-Sahara Africa and adjacent areas , waters and airspace . This terminology is used in contrast with the NATO ' s Strategic Direction East ( NSD-E ), referred commonly to Eastern Europe .
NSD-S always poses unexpected challenges and threats to the Alliance . Recently the Warsaw Summit Communiqué ( 8-9 July 16 ) clearly stated that ‘’ there is an arc of insecurity and instability along NATO ’ s periphery and beyond . The Alliance faces a range of security challenges and threats that originate both from the east and from the south ; from state and non-state actors ; from military forces and from terrorist , cyber , or hybrid attacks ’’. The latest development was the Russian intervention in Syria crisis which gave a different dimension to current challenges and threats in this area .
As a result the Alliance began a multifaceted study analyzing different actions in order to address the challenges and requirements in the south in all PMESII domains ( Political , Military , Economic , Social , Infrastructure , Information ).
The aim of this paper is to give some additional thoughts on the current documentation with the possibility of developing new paths for the South area as it is currently for the East .
Challenges and Threats
In recent years we ( have been observing many Terrorist Attacks ( TA ) in Europe ) became observers of terrorist attacks in Europe , resulting in many casualties . Those episodes illustrated the changing nature of threats for NATO allies , deriving from the Alliance ’ s Southern flank . These TAs remind us that the threats from the South might be indirect but directly affect our security , when compared to Eastern flank which poses a direct military threat on NATO territory .
Most of the threats are transnational and volatile , characterized by political instability with different intensities of violence and timescales , generated by inter-connected socio-economic , cultural / ideological and political drivers .
These threats have a negative influence on the economy , the infrastructure and the social cohesion . Ultimately they affect our way of thinking .
Despite the increasingly pace of TA and NSD-S vulnerability , NATO continues to have oriented its activities to the East rather than to the South . Some of the reasons are :
�� �����������������������������������tionally NATO has been set up to deter and provide collective defense against an enemy , against a state enemy that ’ s on the Eastern side . So NATO has developed strategy , capabilities , and operational assets in order to address this particular tension , but the Southern flank seems to be rather different .
�� ����������������������������������� of risks , threats , challenges , whatever we want to call them , that spread across many different countries . It ’ s not easy to divide sub regions , North Africa and Middle East , Sahel , because they are interlinked in a very complex way with different actors , state actors , non-state actors .
�� ��������������������������������ometry of the Operational Environment . The factor ‘’ space ’’ is unlimited and the connection with the estimation of time and necessary forces being deployed is a complicated work . The Southern Area is more dispersed and non-linear than the East Area . Distinctions between forward and rear areas are becoming less clear-cut and the use of urban conflict , terrorism , and irregular forces are commonplace .
�� ��� ����������� ��������� ���������� had a small innocent impact but gradually became a hybrid actor quickly turning into a state . At initial stage , they are acting as unconventional force , while the terrorist organization succeeded in being under the threshold of a traditional threat . As Terrorist organizations acquired military capabilities , they became a threat , which can be addressed by traditional military means .
Therefore , based on the above reasons , it appears to be easier to activate instruments regarding the threats from the East and difficult to set and activate actions to the South , as there is a conflict among national and international interests .
Two-day NATO Strategic Direction South Conference , Photo by JFC NAPLES PAO
For all the aforementioned reasons I consider that NATO needs to re-orient
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