File talk:NATO Partners.png

Two Partnership Groups are Missing / Distinguishing non-NATO EU Nations
NATO's "Other Partners Across the Globe" aka "Contact Counties" should be listed as such. Japan, Korea, Australia and New Zealand are specifically listed on the NATO homepage as "examples." In addition, NATO cites specifically the contibutions made by several other "partners" including Chile and Argentina.

NATO discribes the relationship of global partners, "Typically, forces from these countries are incorporated into operations on the same basis as forces from NATO members and Partners. This implies that they are involved in the decision-making process through their association to the work of committees, the posting of liaison officers in the operational headquarters or to SHAPE. They often operate under the direct command of the Operational Commander through multinational divisional headquarters. ... At the 2006 Riga Summit, NATO pledged to increase the operational relevance of relations with interested Contact Countries. In particular, steps were taken to strengthen NATO’s ability to work with current and potential contributors to NATO operations which share NATO’s interests and values. This decision marked a policy shift for the Alliance, allowing Contact Countries to have access, in principle, to any of the activites offered under NATO’s structured partnerships."

The six non-NATO EU nations have a sui generis relationship with NATO that is unique within the PfP. The EU and NATO have a sui generis relationship institutionalized through the Berlin Agreements. Specifically, EU security is deferred to NATO for consideration. That is, the defense of the EU is first a question for NATO. The EU will defend itself only if NATO refuses to do so and if they do they have access to NATO assets and command structures to carry out the operation. As such, Austria, Cyprus, Finland, Ireland, Malta and Sweden have a distinct relationship with NATO from other PfP nations.

The Istanbul Cooperation Initiative is a partnership program of NATO equivilent to the PfP and the Med Dialogue. Four nations have joined as "partners" - Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and the UAE. Saudi Arabia and Oman have indicated their intent to join the ICI. NATO and Jordan (a Med Dialogue partner of NATO) have a program to train elements of the Palestinian Authority's security forces. They are being equiped to NATO standards and trained in Alliance tactics and organization. While the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is specifically NOT an area of concern to NATO, NATO is working with allies and partners to develop the capabilities to create options for some future role for NATO to implement and secure any comprehensive peace between Israel and Palestine. 7o62x39 (talk) 17:09, 8 July 2009 (UTC)7o62x39