Page 33 - Coespu Magazine 2018-2

NATO’s Southern Hub: A Coordination Mechanism

to Establish Rule of Law

The world can be identified by its enormous complexity of existing challenges, given by, among
others, the abundance of diverse actors or the difficulties involved in predicting events and
potential consequences. International organizations have been attempting to develop the best
responses to these new challenges as they arise, and several programs have been implemented.
However, one theme has been made clear - the need for better coordination and synchronization
among these programs and their various associated organizations. Thus, NATO established the
NATO Strategic Direction – South Hub, a new organization aimed to enhance these coordination
efforts. These challenges and their potential solutions have a special importance in the south
border of the NATO Alliance. The
stability and prosperity of all countries
is considered advantageous, while
destabilization of any society is seen
as a main concern for NATO. Root
causes of instability must be addressed
at all levels. Amongst those root causes, Rule of Law and lack of good governance in countries
and regions, require organizations like NATO, the UN and local and regional Police and
Gendarmerie forces to collectively seek solutions. It is not possible to achieve improvement in
crisis areas without the existence of a
peaceful and secure environment where
the populace feels they have the ability to
thrive. The existence of weak government
institutions unable to facilitate the
minimum services, or even territories with
no presence of the state at all, are a clear
source of instability.To this end, at the
Warsaw Summit in 2016, it was declared
that while its obligations set out in Article
5 remain paramount, NATO must renew
its emphasis on maintaining the capability
to respond crisis beyond its borders, while
remaining engaged in projecting stability
and enhancing international security
through working with partners and other
international organizations. This statement

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