The June 28-30 NATO summit in Madrid demonstrated the Alliance’s resolve in the face of Russian aggression in Ukraine. As intended, it showcased a determined and unified alliance committed to the common defense and enhanced cooperation during “a critical time for our security and international peace and stability.”
But the focus wasn’t only on current headlines and crises; the Summit sought to debate and build consensus on a longer-term vision of NATO’s role and purpose and outline the comprehensive nature of the Alliance’s future security challenges. In doing so, it was essential for the 30 gathered leaders to reaffirm that NATO is an alliance built on a shared set of values.
A vital demonstration of those values was evident in the Summit’s emphasis on two critical issues: Human Security and Gender Equality. The Summit Declaration mentions Human Security as the heart of the Alliance’s role and complements the traditional view of state-centric security. In the Declaration, leaders stated, “We emphasize the centrality of human security” and outlined how it would integrate across NATO’s core tasks.
In addition, Allies reaffirmed their commitment to“…advancing a robust Women, Peace and Security agenda and are incorporating gender perspectives across NATO.” While building on past commitments to the Protection of Civilians, Women, Peace and Security, and other focused concepts, this emphasis on Human Security and Gender Equality seeks to link these efforts and portray NATO’s most important goal of equitably protecting its 1.2B citizens.
Considering the broader security context and longer-term trends, NATO leaders also used the opportunity to frame how best NATO should posture itself for the coming decade. One vehicle for doing this was an update of the Alliance’s Strategic Concept, which lays out critical threats and challenges and outlines possible means to address them. The last concept, agreed to in 2010, was functionally obsolete, including references to Russia as a partner and an absence of any mention of China. The new version, agreed upon at the Summit, lays the groundwork for setting NATO’s values-based approach for current and future challenges while reaffirming that NATO’s three core tasks remain: deterrence and defense; crisis prevention and management; and cooperative security.
However, the 2022 Strategic Concept goes further; it broadens the definition of security to transcend the more traditional definition of territorial integrity and military capabilities to include human security and gender equality considerations. As reflected in the Summit Declaration, Human Security and gender equality are essential additions to the formal NATO lexicon, “[T]he Strategic Concept … is critical to all our core tasks and underpins our efforts to safeguard our nations, societies, and shared values. It also emphasizes the cross-cutting importance of investing in [and promoting] … human security and the Women, Peace and Security agenda across all our core tasks.”
Perhaps most importantly, it also builds on significant work the 30 Allies have done together over the past several years since the adoption of the 2016 NATO Protection of Civilians Policy, as well as the work since the 2007 adoption of the NATO/EAPC Policy on Women, Peace, and Security. This agreement defines and develops Human Security, PoC, and WPS capabilities as a cornerstone framework for military strategy, doctrine, training, and conduct. “Human security, including the protection of civilians and civilian harm mitigation, is central to our approach to crisis prevention and management.”
Understanding proper civilian protection, including how war and conflict disproportionately affect women and children, is not just ambition or aspiration. It is a critical capability that NATO must continue to develop based on lessons from the Alliance’s recent real-world experiences in Afghanistan, the Middle East and North Africa, and the current war in Ukraine.
Overall, the summit leaders’ prominence and the new Strategic Concept given to human security and gender equality is a significant step toward strengthening the Alliance’s ability to equitably protect its citizens in crisis and conflict. As advocates, we can always point to ways to strengthen language or intent; however, we believe that the Strategic Concept as adopted has provided Allies and Partners a robust platform for continuing to operationalize work within NATO and at home in this area. Yet, we know that words are just words. The real work starts now as NATO focuses on implementation, including defining and resourcing clear and achievable steps forward on human security. The tragedy in Ukraine has unfortunately provided new impetus to a forward-leaning Alliance approach on these issues while also driving home the potential and reality of a conflict on NATO soil with all its implications and dangers for civilians—NATO citizens.
Time to Walk the Talk: NATO on Human Security
A readout from the 2022 Madrid Summit
By Andrew Hyde • Marla Keenan • Samantha Turner
In Human Rights & IHL
The NATO summit in Madrid on June 28-30 underscored some crucial strategic steps for the Alliance in the coming years and decades. NATO leaders discussed updates to the Alliance’s Strategic Concept, a document that is now responsive to an evolving political landscape and articulates how the definition of security will expand to include human security and gender equality considerations. The path ahead will be judged by how well those words are translated into action.
The June 28-30 NATO summit in Madrid demonstrated the Alliance’s resolve in the face of Russian aggression in Ukraine. As intended, it showcased a determined and unified alliance committed to the common defense and enhanced cooperation during “a critical time for our security and international peace and stability.”1Madrid Summit Declaration, Issued by NATO Heads of State and Government participating in the meeting of the North Atlantic Council in Madrid 29 June 2022 https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/official_texts_196951.htm
But the focus wasn’t only on current headlines and crises; the Summit sought to debate and build consensus on a longer-term vision of NATO’s role and purpose and outline the comprehensive nature of the Alliance’s future security challenges. In doing so, it was essential for the 30 gathered leaders to reaffirm that NATO is an alliance built on a shared set of values.
A vital demonstration of those values was evident in the Summit’s emphasis on two critical issues: Human Security and Gender Equality.2According to NATO: “The concept of human security is one such result. Human security is a multi-sectoral approach to security that gives primacy to people and includes topics like combatting trafficking in human beings; protection of children in armed conflict; preventing and responding to conflict-related sexual violence; protection of civilians; and cultural property protection.” https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/topics_181779.htm The Summit Declaration mentions Human Security as the heart of the Alliance’s role and complements the traditional view of state-centric security. In the Declaration, leaders stated, “We emphasize the centrality of human security” and outlined how it would integrate across NATO’s core tasks.
In addition, Allies reaffirmed their commitment to“…advancing a robust Women, Peace and Security agenda and are incorporating gender perspectives across NATO.”3Madrid Summit Declaration, Issued by NATO Heads of State and Government participating in the meeting of the North Atlantic Council in Madrid 29 June 2022 https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/official_texts_196951.htm While building on past commitments to the Protection of Civilians, Women, Peace and Security, and other focused concepts, this emphasis on Human Security and Gender Equality seeks to link these efforts and portray NATO’s most important goal of equitably protecting its 1.2B citizens.
Considering the broader security context and longer-term trends, NATO leaders also used the opportunity to frame how best NATO should posture itself for the coming decade. One vehicle for doing this was an update of the Alliance’s Strategic Concept, which lays out critical threats and challenges and outlines possible means to address them. The last concept, agreed to in 2010, was functionally obsolete, including references to Russia as a partner and an absence of any mention of China. The new version, agreed upon at the Summit, lays the groundwork for setting NATO’s values-based approach for current and future challenges while reaffirming that NATO’s three core tasks remain: deterrence and defense; crisis prevention and management; and cooperative security.
However, the 2022 Strategic Concept goes further; it broadens the definition of security to transcend the more traditional definition of territorial integrity and military capabilities to include human security and gender equality considerations. As reflected in the Summit Declaration, Human Security and gender equality are essential additions to the formal NATO lexicon, “[T]he Strategic Concept … is critical to all our core tasks and underpins our efforts to safeguard our nations, societies, and shared values. It also emphasizes the cross-cutting importance of investing in [and promoting] … human security and the Women, Peace and Security agenda across all our core tasks.”4NATO Strategic Concept, https://www.nato.int/strategic-concept/ , p.1
Perhaps most importantly, it also builds on significant work the 30 Allies have done together over the past several years since the adoption of the 2016 NATO Protection of Civilians Policy, as well as the work since the 2007 adoption of the NATO/EAPC Policy on Women, Peace, and Security. This agreement defines and develops Human Security, PoC, and WPS capabilities as a cornerstone framework for military strategy, doctrine, training, and conduct. “Human security, including the protection of civilians and civilian harm mitigation, is central to our approach to crisis prevention and management.”5Ibid, p. 9
Understanding proper civilian protection, including how war and conflict disproportionately affect women and children, is not just ambition or aspiration. It is a critical capability that NATO must continue to develop based on lessons from the Alliance’s recent real-world experiences in Afghanistan, the Middle East and North Africa, and the current war in Ukraine.
Overall, the summit leaders’ prominence and the new Strategic Concept given to human security and gender equality is a significant step toward strengthening the Alliance’s ability to equitably protect its citizens in crisis and conflict. As advocates, we can always point to ways to strengthen language or intent; however, we believe that the Strategic Concept as adopted has provided Allies and Partners a robust platform for continuing to operationalize work within NATO and at home in this area. Yet, we know that words are just words. The real work starts now as NATO focuses on implementation, including defining and resourcing clear and achievable steps forward on human security. The tragedy in Ukraine has unfortunately provided new impetus to a forward-leaning Alliance approach on these issues while also driving home the potential and reality of a conflict on NATO soil with all its implications and dangers for civilians—NATO citizens.
Notes
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