DOD AND STATE DRAFT REPORTS ON H.R. 2805, CONCERNING THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A COMMISSION TO FOSTER MORE COOPERATIVE PLANNING AND RESPONSE BY OUR NATO AND ASIAN ALLIES TO OUT-OF-AREA THREATS TO WESTERN SECURITY INTERESTS.
Document Type:
Collection:
Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST):
CIA-RDP90M00004R001000080013-5
Release Decision:
RIPPUB
Original Classification:
K
Document Page Count:
8
Document Creation Date:
December 27, 2016
Document Release Date:
December 12, 2011
Sequence Number:
13
Case Number:
Publication Date:
August 20, 1987
Content Type:
MEMO
File:
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CIA-RDP90M00004R001000080013-5.pdf | 271.97 KB |
Body:
STAT
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OFFICE OF CONGRESSIONAL AFFAIRS
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01ON6RESS19NA! AU AIRS
EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT
OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET
WASHINGTON. D.C. =0503
August 20, 1987
LEGISLATIVE REFERRAL MEMORANDUM
TO: Legislative Liaison Officer -
Department of Defense (State only)
Department of State (DOD only)
National Security Council
Department of Justice
Central Intelligence Agency
F!F
SPECIAL
SUBJECT: DOD and State draft reports on H.R. 2805, concerning the
establishment of a coamission to foster more cooperative planning
and response by our NATO and Asian allies to our-of-area threats
to Western Security interests.
The Office of Management and Budget requests.the views of your
agency on the above subject before advising on its relationship
to the program of the President, in accordance with OMB Circular
A-19.
A response to this request for your views is needed no later than
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 1987.
Questions should be referred to BUE TRAD/ANNETTE ROONEY
(395-7300), the legislative analyst in this office.
RONALD K. PETERSON FOR
Assistant Director for
Legislative Reference
CC: J. Eisenhour
B. Howard
E. Murdock
SFECIAI
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STAT
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United States Department of State
Washington. D.C. 20520
Since receiving your letter of July 9, we have given
additional thought to the establishment of a commission on
out-of-area issues, as proposed in the legislation which you
recently introduced. In my letter of March 9, which responded
to your previous correspondence on the commission proposal, I
outlined several considerations which we continue to endorse.
As you and your colleagues have correctly observed, global
trends since the immediate post-war period have considerably
reshaped Western security interests. Many of today's most
pressing issues -- terrorism, access to raw materials including
petroleum, Soviet adventurism in unstable areas -- were barely
.perceptible just a few decades ago. We, and our allies in
Europe, East Asia, and the Pacific, must confront new
challenges which have evolved since the establishment of the
NATO alliance and other collective security arrangements.
An effective allied approach to out-of-area challenges must
rest on three elements: consensus among interested allies on
how best to address out-of-area issues, proper machinery to
coordinate allied policy, and the means to pursue whatever
response or action is decided upon. I would like to take up
each of these elements in more detail.
In recent years, the industrial democracies have recognized
recurring threats to their security interests. Many of these
threats are a direct function of such factors as chronic
instability in the developing world, increasing economic
interdependence, and the growing capacity of the Soviet Union
to project power on a world-wide basis. We face relatively
little difficulty in identifying the problems; the more
difficult task is to agree on whether a particular out-of-area
problem presents sufficient potential costs to merit collective
action, and if so, what action would be appropriate. To take
the example of international terrorism, nations have tended to
interpret somewhat differently what combinations of vigilance,
precautionary safeguards, legal initiatives, pre-emptive
strikes, or retaliation best address the threat at hand.
The Honorable
Doug Bereuter
House of Representatives.
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In this respect, consensus on policy solutions is the
starting point, and sine qua non, for coordinated allied
out-of-area action. I believe that an allied out-of-area
commission could sometimes serve to build consensus on
particular issues. There is, however, considerable risk that a
commission's diverse membership would simply replay official
national differences of view, or even prompt intra-alliance
disagreements which did not previously exist at official levels.
Much "machinery" for coordination on out-of-area issues
already exists. On March 9, I outlined several of the NATO
Alliance's consultative processes. In broad terms, out-of-area
challenges to our security interests are frequently discussed
in many fora including the press and academic community,
international organizations such as the United Nations, and
bilateral as well as multilateral discussions among the Allies,
to name a few. We engage in regular bilateral consultations
with our allies and friends in the course of constant
diplomatic exchanges. Groups of allies meet periodically every
year, consistent with informal but regular commitments to
consult with one another on global security issues. NATO's
North Atlantic Council and Defense Planning Committee meet in
plenary session at the ministerial level twice per year.
Political and military related consultative meetings take place
at NATO, on a less senior level, almost every week.
Out-of-area challenges are frequently part of the agenda for
such meetings. As you are aware, the United Nations Security
Council, of which key allied powers are both permanent and
rotating members, regularly reviews international developments
as they affect global security. Other mechanisms, such as the
annual Western economic summits, consistently take up pressing
out-of-area concerns as matters for coordinated action.
On balance, I would signal as most effective our bilateral,
and limited multilateral, exchanges as a means of organizing
out-of-area policy. These exchanges are especially effective
in bringing together knowlegeable experts, who command
sufficient authority, and can preserve essential
confidentiality, in coordinating out-of-area action.
Participants are well acquainted with longstanding historical
trends, as well as the immediate conditions which surround a
particular problem. Equally important, such exchanges can be
carried out on a timely basis, within hours if conditions so
warrant.
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The final element of out-of-area coordination concerns
implementing policy goals agreed upon by allied nations.
Effective response to threats demands political, economic,
diplomatic and military resources. We have found that we can
best promote joint allied action by engaging primarily those
partners who have the means to carry out collective
commitments. Once consensus is achieved, interested nations
must commit their resources to a given problem -- often in the
face of opposition from various quarters. For this reason, we
keep a sharp focus in coordinating out-of-area policy. We
concentrate our efforts with other nations most likely to share
our views, who have the means to support policy objectives, and
w,ho would be ready to commit those means in concerted action.
None of these points undermines the idea of an Allied
Commission for out-of-area issues as a forum for exploring
policy. These considerations do, however, suggest that a
commission would be unlikely to promote timely and
mission-oriented activities.
Recent policy toward the Persian Gulf ?monstrates the
elements which I have tried to convey. Through extensive
bilateral and multilateral discussion, including the Venice
Economic Summit and the UN Security Council, industrial
democracies have succeeded in taking joint action. Most
recently, the British and French decided to send minesweepers
to the Gulf. In addition, the July 20 UNSC resolution which
called for a ceasefire/withdrawal in the Iran-Iraq War marked
an effective response to an out-of-area threat. This
resolution was the product of many contacts which spanned
related issues: Operation Staunch designed to halt arms flows
to Iran; the Venice Summit Statement calling for an end to
Iran/Iraq War and freedom of navigation in the Gulf; and close
consultation with allies on regional political developments.
In sum, the present system for allied out-of-area policy
coordination meets our key requirements. while there are
evident merits to the Allied Commission for out-of-area issues
proposed in your recent legislation, it is difficult for us to
see how this proposal, if put into effect, would overcome
already existing problems. Moreover, the proposal raises
budgetary concerns discussed in my previous letter, and there
is some question whether other allies would also endorse the
idea of setting up yet another institution to address global
security questions. Please forgive the length of this reply.
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I have, however, sought to respond in kind to the serious
thinking and concerted effort which you and your colleagues
have devoted to these important issues.
With best wishes,
Sincerely,
Betsy R. Warren
Acting Assistant Secretary
Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs
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