Weekly Column:   –  “In 1949, an alliance was forged among freedom-loving nations to keep peace and to stand strong during trying times.  That alliance is called the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and this year it turns 60.

NATO has endured some of the most trying chapters of recent world history.  The Allies on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean have stood firm against the threats of communism and the Eastern Bloc.  NATO nations have been world leaders in the effort to control the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and to provide for security of civilian populations threatened by military dictatorships.  By cooperating to find terrorist cells and share intelligence, NATO members are the vanguard of international counter-terrorism. 

The U.S. is no small contributor to all of these good efforts, and we are also committed to a strong future of cooperation with our NATO allies.

An organization that started in 1949 with the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty in Washington, D.C. with 12 members has grown today into a 26-nation alliance.  NATO members have cooperated in conflicts ranging from the Korean War, throughout the Cold War, in the Balkans, to the war in Afghanistan. 

The new challenge for NATO today is to strengthen the Allies’ relationship with Russia.  That nation remains the single-greatest threat to stability among fledgling democracies in Eastern Europe and in European markets for energy, natural gas especially.  Even though the Cold War is over, the safety and security of the U.S. is still directly linked to the safety and security of our Allies in Europe.

T. Boone Pickens is also talking about energy security in Europe as a result of the strict Russian control of natural gas and oil supplies.  He cites eight times Russia has used natural gas supplies as an economic weapon to hold Europe hostage to its demands, including actions like the one Russia took in Georgia last winter.  Mr. Pickens also notes with interest that while Russia once dispatched a few observers to OPEC meetings, they recently sent 22-high-ranking officials to OPEC. He thinks Russia will be an OPEC member soon.  As Russia tightens its grip on these energy supplies and their pipeline routes to Europe, that country will also gain even more influence over European political and even security decisions. 

As America works with key European Allies, Russian control of energy supplies will top the list of challenges for NATO in the next decade.  We will have to work together to increase supplies and diversify them, as well as pay close attention to the routes of oil and gas pipelines through Central Asia into Europe.

In 60 years, NATO has not faced a more complicated or a more costly international issue.  Mr. Pickens estimates that the Russian energy situation is a $500 billion interest of the United States every year, and I don’t doubt his figures.  There are many reasons for the NATO alliance to remain strong, but this is the most pressing one.”