Q1/2020 - NATO

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, Speech at the European Parliament, Brussels, 21 January 2020

In a speech addressed to the Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET) and the Sub-Committee on Security and Defence (SEDE) of the European Parliament in Brussels on 21 January 2020, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg addressed the cyber strategy of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in detail. Artificial intelligence, autonomous weapons systems and big data were topics NATO was dealing with, he informed. The new technologies were changing the nature of warfare. In view of the enormous progress China was making in this area, it was imperative that Europe and the USA cooperated closely[1].

NATO Deputy Secretary-General Mircea Geoană, Speech at Hudson Institute, Washington, 7 February 2020

The new NATO Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoană also addressed this issue during his inaugural visit in Washington in a speech to the Hudson Institute on 7 February 2020. Like Stoltenberg, he referred to the changing nature of warfare as a result of the technological revolution. New, Internet-based services and applications opened up great opportunities, but also brought about dangers. A defence alliance such as NATO had to face up to this. For decades, the West's leading role in technical innovation (including military innovation) had been unchallenged. This was going to change with China's rise to a “cyber superpower”. The problem was that “algorithms” could not be counted like missiles or tanks. Therefore, more transparency and mutually agreed rules were needed (We cannot count algorithms in the same way we do with warheads, but we do need more transparency and predictability also in this field. We need, for example, new codes of conduct on the military application of these new technologies. We cannot have a system of global order without trying to have some norms)[2].

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Q1/2020NATO
  1. [1] Remarks by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at the European Parliament Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET) and Sub-Committee on Security and Defence (SEDE), Brussels, 20 January 2020: „So the third challenge I will briefly mention is new and emerging challenges. Technology, artificial intelligence, autonomous weapon platforms, big data. All these emerging technologies will change the nature of warfare as much as the industrial revolution. And we need all the ingenuity, all the capacity of both North America and Europe together to be at the forefront of that development to keep our technological edge. And this is also linked to the rise of China. Because China . . . normally, we have always had the technological edge. But the reality is that when you speak about, for instance, artificial intelligence, we see also that China is actually now investing a lot. And therefore, we need to work together also when it comes to technology and addressing the consequences of the rise of China. There are opportunities, but there are also some serious challenges. China now has the second largest defence budget in the world. Just over the last five years, they deployed 80 new battleships, naval ships. That’s as much as the total UK Navy, just addition for the Chinese Navy, over the last five years. Some . . . I meet, people, both in Europe and North America expressing concern about the size of China. Well, if you’re concerned about the size of China, then Europe and North America have to stand together, because together we have 50 per cent of world GDP or 50 per cent of the world military might. …. The idea is not to move NATO into the South China Sea. But the challenge is that China is coming closer to us: in cyberspace, in investing heavily in our critical infrastructure, in Africa, in the Artic. So we need to respond to the fact that China is coming closer to us. So, it’s not about moving NATO out, but also the fact that China is now developing weapon systems, which more and more are able to reach all Europe, all NATO Allied countries, including Europe.“, in: https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/opinions_172822.htm?selectedLocale=en
  2. [2] See: NATO Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoană in discussion with Hudson Institute Senior Fellow Peter Rough at the Hudson Institute public event “NATO and the New Decade: Assessing the Transatlantic Alliance", Washington, 7 February 2020, „Probably never before, at least in recent modern human history, we have not seen so much change happening at the same time. Technological shifts, geopolitical shifts, evolutions within and outside of our societies. We see new disruptive technologies like Artificial Intelligence, facial recognition, automation, much of it from China. Technologies that are transforming our societies with incredible speed and are also changing the character, not only of human society but also of modern warfare. These are two sides of the same coin. Technologies can be a source of fantastic progress. They can also be a source of incredible complexity and danger. These new technologies can have strategic effects. Now, we cannot count algorithms in the same way we do with warheads, but we do need more transparency and predictability also in this field. We need, for example, new codes of conduct on the military application of these new technologies. We cannot have a system of global order without trying to have some norms, some form of organisation. Not only a traditional way of organising things, but also to the new things that are affecting, impacting at such velocity our societies. And something which is very important: we may no longer be able to take our technological edge – the political West – for granted. But there is no reason why we should not retain it. Open societies like the United States and all of us, where people are free to think and explore and collaborate will always, in the end, be better, more effective and more creative than closed societies. I’m convinced that we will prevail. I’m convinced that if we understand the complexity of the challenge and we stick together, I think there is no way in which authoritarian system of organised societies can prove to be more efficient, more productive and more satisfactory to human destinies than open societies and democracies., in: https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/opinions_173209.htm?selectedLocale=en