Word: nato
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...security, the "Framework" declaration calls for a "focus on the very real dangers that confront both our nations." But seven years after Bush and Putin first met, Russia and the U.S. don't agree on their prime security threats. Throughout his tenure, Putin has sounded the alarm on NATO's encircling of his country. Much as he has the grounds to decry the West's broken word, given back in the 1990s, NATO is engaged in Afghanistan against forces that would ultimately threaten Russia's southern flank. Putin even allows NATO to use Russian territory for logistics, and approved...
...Sarkozy was being ungrateful. Earlier, President Bush, attending his last-ever NATO summit, had almost literally sung the praises of the French politician, whom he said had made an impact on the American people "like the latest incarnation of Elvis." Flattery of this kind is rare in any context, yet delegates in Bucharest, despite behind-the-scenes rows and disappointments, generally seemed more inclined to compliment than to complain. Though Macedonia packed its bags in disgust, Georgia and Ukraine managed to put some positive spin on events. And though Washington was disappointed, there was success...
...Georgia and Ukraine also saw their hopes of a rapid road to NATO dashed. Both countries had sought entry into the Alliance's Membership Action Plan (MAP), the gateway to NATO membership. Instead they too will have to wait. NATO foreign ministers meeting next December will review their applications, but few observers expect that to yield much progress towards MAP even though ministers theoretically have the power to give the green light. The blockage, of course, stems from Russia, which has forcefully opposed its neighbors' NATO ambitions, however resolutely they've been supported by U.S. President George Bush. "I have...
...sharp contrast to NATO's Riga summit in 2006. "The tone of the discussion is a lot lighter now than it was two years ago," says a NATO official. "Then the whole thing appeared to hang by a thread." In the Latvian capital, tensions ran high over the inequitable commitments of NATO members to military operations in Afghanistan - what the countries with sizable troop deployments in dangerous areas refer to as "burden sharing." Those tensions remain, but a commitment by France to send up to 1,000 troops to eastern Afghanistan, made before this summit and confirmed on Thursday...
...Britain, the second largest contributor of troops to Afghanistan, proposed a new initiative at the summit: A so-called trust fund to encourage countries that are not contributing troops to instead donate money and equipment to NATO operations. On Thursday, Prime Minister Brown revealed that 18 new helicopters and 8 nations had declared themselves ready to contribute to the fund. "This will become known as the burden-sharing summit," said Brown. That, at least, should be a name delegates can agree...