EXPERT: NATO NEED HASN'T DIMINISHED

NATO needs to remain in Europe to maintain a balance despite the Cold War being over, says Keith Dunn, a Jackson native and U.S. strategist at NATO.

Dunn spoke Thursday evening to about 45 people at the Harold Holmes Dugger Lecture, held in the University Center on the Southeast Missouri State University campus. Afterward, Dunn answered questions from the audience.

Dunn is director of Defense Plans Division at the U.S. Mission to NATO in Brussels, Belgium. Dunn is responsible for Department of Defense related policy planning, conventional forces planning, and nuclear planning within the U.S. Mission. He is the U.S. representative to the alliance's Defense Review Committee that examines defense proposals of alliance members to see if they are financially, economically and politically consistent with the alliance's military requirements.

A 1969 graduate and valedictorian of Southeast, he holds master's and doctoral degrees in history from the University of Missouri.

Dunn said he and others with NATO are often asked why the alliance doesn't disband if the Cold War threat is gone, or why Europe is not left to shoulder its own defense. But although Democratic changes are gripping Europe, history has shown that stability can't be expected, he said.

"Peace and stability are not the norm to Europe. We'd like it to be that way, but there's a lot of work to be done to maintain stability on the European continent," he said.

The threat and risk to the alliance today largely comes from instability from countries that are experiencing sweeping internal changes, he said.

As an example, he cited the problems now occurring in Yugoslavia. People there are being brutally killed, he said.

"The potential for instability and chaos that has been shown in Yugoslavia is possible in much of central and eastern Europe, as well as in the Soviet Union itself. As they grope for democracy, as they grope for freedom, hopefully we can provide an anchor."

Dunn said the alliance needs to serve as a "security anchor" in western Europe for eastern Europe. When eastern Europeans come to NATO, he said, they say they want the alliance to continue because it is a stabilizing influence. They say that if the alliance was not there, they would not feel safe, said Dunn.

Despite what people may read in newspapers and magazines, Dunn said, the alliance remains a vibrant organization. He said he knows of no other organization where countries so willingly give up important defense and security data.

"It's unique. It's something that we at NATO, and I particularly, would not want to see go away. The world is too small for the U.S. to consider isolationism."

Dunn said the alliance is rewriting its strategy. That overall process, he said, has taken 16 to 17 months. The revised plan will be delivered Nov. 7 in Rome to the NATO heads of state, he said.