The 2024 NATO Summit, held in Washington on 9-11 July 2024, reached consensus on many things to guide the development of this military alliance. In the context of fundamental changes in international political and military affairs, the agenda of the Summit has drawn great attention from researchers and international community.

Security challenges to NATO

The Washington Declaration of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) Summit in 2024 affirms that strategic competition, pervasive instability, and political, military shocks define the broader security environment not only in Europe but also in Indo-Pacific, Africa, and the Middle East, directly affecting security of NATO. Of note, Russia and China are identified as the most serious security challenges to this military alliance.

Regarding threats from Russia, the Washington Declaration defines Russia as the most significant and direct threat to Allies’ security and is the most direct asymmetric threat to the security of the West. Russia’s special military campaign in Ukraine is shattering peace and stability in the Euro-Atlantic area and gravely undermining global security. NATO believes that Russia has violated international law and the UN Charter when it launched the special military campaign in Ukraine. NATO even accuses that Russia is pursuing the ambition of invading the entire Europe. The Declaration strongly requests that Russia must immediately stop its special military campaign in Ukraine and completely and unconditionally withdraw all of its forces from Ukraine. NATO also accuses the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and Iran of supporting Russia’s special military campaign in Ukraine through providing ammunition and uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs).

However, many politicians and political-military analysts in Russia and even in the United States and some Western countries believe that the assessment on Russia in NATO’s Washington Declaration completely goes against this alliance’s formation and development. Accordingly, NATO has been keeping aloof from its initial objectives and gradually become an instrument for Washington to achieve its strategic goal of global hegemony. Consequently, after the end of the Cold War, despite the disintegration of the Warsaw Alliance, NATO continues to increase from 15 to 32 countries today. Before staging the special military campaign in Ukraine, Russia proposed negotiation for signing a treaty to ensure sustainable, fair security in Europe. Nevertheless, this proposal was turned down by Washington and Brussel. The reason for this is that Russia is the defeated in the Cold War so it cannot deserve respect and fair treatment from NATO members.

As for China’s challenges, NATO’s Washington Declaration continues to affirm that China is posing systemic challenges to Euro-Atlantic security, pursuing the ambition of reshaping the rules-based international order, thus challenging core interests, security, and values of the West. According to Chinese leadership and political-military analysts, this assessment of NATO completely contradicts China’s initiatives on peaceful coexistence with nations of different sociopolitical regimes and building of a global community of shared future.

NATO’s Washington Declaration also states that the increasingly strong strategic partnership without limits between China and Russia is undermining the rules-based international order. This claim of NATO completely goes against Russia-China’s consistent policy on jointly building a new multilateral equal international order, striving for maintaining peace and win-win cooperation among countries of different political and socio-economic regimes.

NATO Summit held in Washington in July 2024 (Photo: VNA)

NATO’s on-going enlargement policy

The Washington Declaration regards the accession of Finland and Sweden as a way to make the Alliance stronger. In contrast, Moscow believes that as a result of this accession, NATO is building a cluster of military bases around Russia. Moreover, NATO declares that every nation has the right to choose their own security arrangements, including accession to this organisation. The declaration also reaffirms NATO’s Open Door Policy, in line with Article 10 of the Washington Treaty. According to international political-military analysts, the declaration completely goes against the fundamental principles of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe. Accordingly, every nation has the right to choose their own alliances but must not undermine the security of others. Meanwhile, the United States and NATO are turning Eastern European countries into forward posts to counter Russia. The most typical example is Ukraine. They have turned Ukraine from a friendly neighbouring country of Russia into Russia’s enemy. The United States and NATO have conducted tens of exercises in Ukraine’s territory according to counter-Russia scenarios.

NATO’s Washington Declaration reaffirms its support for Ukraine’s accession to this organisation, regarding this accession as the irreversible path to full Euro-Atlantic integration. Accordingly, NATO will extend an invitation to Ukraine to join the Alliance when conditions are met. The NATO-Ukraine Council will constitute a bridge to Ukraine’s membership in NATO. Furthermore, NATO pledges to provide Ukraine with an annual funding of $40 billion, air defence systems, and other critical military capabilities to triumph over Russia. The two sides also decide to establish the NATO-Ukraine Joint Analysis, Training, and Education Centre to increase Ukraine’s interoperability with NATO. NATO also appoints its senior representative in Ukraine.

NATO’s modernisation programme

The Washington Declaration emphasise the need for accelerating modernisation of NATO to meet security requirements and deal with present and future threats. The programme identifies modernisation measures, including: (1) accelerating research, development, and application of new technologies and digital transformation, first and foremost the implementation of the Artificial Intelligence Strategy and new Quantum and Biotechnology Strategies; (2) establishing the Innovation Fund to adopt technological advancement in Ukrainian theatre; (3) strengthening deterrence and defence; (4) requesting member countries to fulfill their commitment of at least 2% of GDP annual defence spending; (5) deploying the combat-ready forces on NATO’s Eastern Flank; (6) delivering the required high readiness forces across all domains through the programme to build a robust and agile Allied Reaction Force; (7) conducting more frequent and large-scale training and exercises to evaluate collective defence plans; (8) researching and developing special weapon systems, including hypersonic ones; (9) strengthening the command, control, communications, and intelligence; (10) taking full advantage of the capabilities Finland and Sweden bring to the Alliance by integrating them into the Alliance’s collective defence plans; (11) establishing the NATO Integrated Cyber Defence Centre to enhance cybersecurity; (12) strengthening the protection of critical undersea infrastructure; (13) investing in chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear defence capabilities; (14) embarking on building and modernising missile defence systems; and (15) enhancing transatlantic defence industrial cooperation.

NATO-EU relations

The Washington Declaration affirms that the European Union (EU) remains an essential partner for NATO. NATO-EU cooperation has reached unprecedented levels in all fields. In the context of Ukraine, NATO-EU cooperation has become more significant. NATO considers EU’s participation in NATO’s defence efforts foundation for NATO-EU strategic partnership. NATO, therefore, will continue to further strengthen its strategic partnership with EU in a spirit of full mutual openness, transparency, complementarity, and respect for the organisation’s different mandates.

However, according to analysts, before the crisis in Ukraine, EU had declared its commitment to achieve political self-reliance and defence independence by establishing a European army. Through putting pressure and pushing Russia into a corner, forcing it to launch the special military campaign in Ukraine, NATO has imposed nearly 20,000 embargoes. This not only forces Russia to suffer a strategic defeat and plunge into crises but also weaken EU, stopping EU’s intention to become independent from Washington. Thus, the so-called NATO-EU strategic partnership truly aims to abolish EU’s position as a pole in the emerging multipolar global order.

NATO’s increased influence in the Indo-Pacific

Leaders from Japan, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand also participates in the summit to discuss common security challenges and cooperation. The Washington Declaration values the importance of the Indo-Pacific for NATO, given that developments in that region directly affect Euro-Atlantic security. Therefore, NATO welcomes the continued contributions of the Asia-Pacific partners to augment Euro-Atlantic security. Thus, NATO has been expanding its influence to the Asia-Pacific region.

According to analysts, NATO’s summit in Washington is the next step of the 2023 NATO Summit to expand its influence into Asia-Pacific, creating conditions for gradually establishing the Asian NATO on the basis of the trilateral partnerships such as Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States (AUKUS); Japan, South Korea, and the United States; Japan, the Philippines, and the United States as well as the relationships between the United States and its partners in this region. NATO’s expansion of influence aims to cope with challenges posed by Russia and China. Accordingly, the Euro-Atlantic NATO will confront Russia while the Asian NATO will constrain China’s influence. More alarmingly, NATO’s increasing expansion of influence to the Asia-Pacific region is likely to affect ASEAN Centrality in the regional architecture.

THE MAU and NHAN DUC