FORMER POLICY-MAKERS VOICE CONCERN OVER NATO EXPANSION
Washington D.C.--June 26, 1997
In an open letter to President Clinton released today fifty
former senators, cabinet secretaries and ambassadors, as well as arms
control and foreign policy analysts, have called for a postponement of
NATO expansion while other options for European security are explored.
The group recommends making it a priority to open the doors of the
European Union to Central and Eastern Europe, enhance the Partnership
for Peace program, and vigorously continue the arms reduction process.
NATO expansion, as it is currently envisioned, risks
undermining the alliance itself and could require an "indeterminate, but
certainly high, cost" the letter says. And continued failure to
articulate the scope of the future NATO could seriously jeopardize the
ability of the alliance "to carry out its primary mission."
The signers also expressed concern about drawing "a new line
of division in Europe, between the 'ins' and the 'outs' of a new NATO,"
which could "foster instability, and ultimately diminish the security of
those countries which are not included."
"We hope that our letter will encourage the public and our
elected officials to ask some hard questions, and get the answers they
need, before the ratification process is set in motion," said Susan
Eisenhower, who played a key role in organizing the effort. "An enhanced
debate on the implications of enlarging NATO is crucial at a time when
we are contemplating greater commitments while funding resources for
defense and national security are diminishing."
The letter, organized by a group of individuals involved in
foreign policy analysis, reflects only a fraction of those who oppose
the administration's current approach. "The list was in no way intended
to be a comprehensive attempt to poll the Washington foreign policy
community," said Jack Mendelsohn, who also helped to organize the list.
"Rather, the list is representative of a diverse group of thoughtful and
knowledgeable people who have deep concerns about the open- ended nature
of this policy."
The bipartisan group consists of many well-known and highly
respected individuals, including former Democratic Senators Sam Nunn
(one of the Senate's foremost defense experts), Bill Bradley, Gary Hart,
and Bennett Johnston, as well as former Senate Republicans Mark Hatfield
and Gordon Humphrey. Two recent ambassadors to the Soviet Union, Jack F.
Matlock, Jr. and Arthur Hartman also signed the letter.
Other signatories include: Ambassador Paul Nitze, President
Reagan's chief arms control negotiator; Robert McNamara, former
Secretary of Defense in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations; Admiral
James Watkins, Secretary of Energy during the Bush years; and President
Carter's Director of the CIA, Admiral Stansfield Turner. Former NATO
Assistant Secretary General Philip Merrill and former NATO logistics
chief Major General Christian Patte are also among those listed. The
signatories also include many distinguished arms control negotiators and
academics, many of whom--like the Reagan administration's Professor
Richard Pipes and Carter administration's Professor Marshall
Shulman--also served in government.