NATO Global Commons Initiative

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= To identify vulnerabilities and challenges affecting assured access to the global commons for NATO and to make recommendations for NATO’s way ahead.

URL = http://www.act.nato.int/globalcommons


Description

"The problems associated with emerging hybrid threats and weak or failing states are well known, as they are central features in today's wars. Less obvious are the growing challenges to Alliance powers and influence that are associated with how we perceive and use the sea, space, and cyberspace. Termed the “connective tissue” of international security, the global commons, comprised of maritime, space and cyber components, constitute a global public good that serves as a crucial enabler of international security and trade. The architecture of the modern international system rests on a foundation of free and fair access to a vibrant global economy that requires stability in the global commons (Sea, Space, and Cyberspace in this Initiative). Alfred Thayer Mahan was perhaps the first strategist to coin the term, describing the world's oceans as "a great highway... a wide common" in his classic 1890 work, The Influence of Sea Power Upon History. Ensuring relative stability throughout the global commons remains an Alliance concern. However, there is a growing consensus that rising state and non-state powers, combined with continued globalization, will put great pressure on the international system as a whole. While assessments point to a changing world, relatively little analysis has addressed when and how such changes will materialize. We are likely entering an era in which a series of strategic trends will make it more difficult for NATO to sustain stability within the global commons. Collective action is necessary to establish an effective international regime to govern the global commons. While the issues at stake are not driven by their potential for immediate conflict and NATO faces an era of austerity and defence cuts, ACT, as a military think tank, has a role in enabling NATO by building consensus within member states to create platforms of shared interest." (http://www.act.nato.int/globalcommons)