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Secretary General of NATO

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Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer meeting President George W. Bush on March 20, 2006.[1]

The Secretary General of NATO is an international diplomat who serves as the chief official of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. The Secretary General is responsible for coordinating the workings of the alliance, serves as the head of the North Atlantic Council, is the primary spokesperson of the alliance, and leads NATO's staff. The current Secretary General is Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, the former Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs.

History

See also: List of NATO Secretaries General

Under Article 9 of the North Atlantic Treaty, the members of NATO agreed to "establish Council, on which each of them shall be represented" [2] This council became the North Atlantic Council, and to chair this body, the members of NATO agreed to establish a Secretary General for the organization, modeled after the UN Secretary General.

Hastings Ismay, a British diplomat and former Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations was appointed as the first Secretary General in 1952 with the consensus support of all the NATO member states. He served until 1957, and since that time eleven other people have held the post, as well as 3 persons in an acting capacity.

Responsibilities

The NATO Secretary General chairs several of the senior decision-making bodies of NATO. In addition to the North Atlantic Council, he chairs the Defence Planning Committee and the Nuclear Planning Committee, two of NATO's important military organizations. The Secretary General also leads the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council, the Mediterranean Cooperation Group, and serves as Join Chairman of the Permanent Joint Council and the NATO-Ukraine Commission.

In a second role, the Secretary General leads the staff of NATO. He directs the International Staff of the organization, and the Office of the Secretary General. The Secretary General also directs his or her own Private Office. All of these bodies draw personnel from all members of NATO, so the Secretary General must carefully coordinate.[3] For assistance in his responsibilities, the Secretary General also has a deputy appointed by the organization.

Selection

There is no formal process for selecting the Secretary General. Instead, the members of NATO traditionally reach a consensus on who should serve next. This procedure often takes place through informal diplomatic channels, but it still can become contentious. For example, in 2009, controversy arose over the potential choice of Anders Fogh Rasmussen as Secretary-General, due to oppostion from Turkey. [4]

Because NATO's chief military officer the Supreme Allied Commander Europe is traditionally an American, the Secretary General has traditionally been a European. There is nothing to preclude an American from becoming the Secretary General, but everyone to occupy the post to date has been a European diplomat.[5]

References

  1. ^ "President Welcomes NATO Secretary General to the White House". The White House. 2006-03-20. Retrieved 2008-04-13.
  2. ^ "The North Atlantic Treaty".
  3. ^ "Civilian Organisation and Structures: The Secretary General".
  4. ^ Kardas, Saban. "Ankara Debates Rasmussen's Candidacy for NATO Secretary-General". The Jamestown Foundation.
  5. ^ "NATO Secretary General: How is he or she selected and for how long".
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