Clinton urges closer NATO ties to Russia

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton urged on Monday closer cooperation between Russia and NATO, the trans-Atlantic alliance that Moscow views with suspicion as a relic of the Cold War and a potential threat to its security.

In a speech launching an international seminar on revising NATO's mission for the 21st century, Clinton bluntly rejected Russian calls for a new European security treaty that Washington believes would lead to a diluting of NATO's influence in Europe and beyond.

"Let me state this unambiguously: While Russia faces challenges to its security, NATO is not among them," she said. "We want a cooperative NATO-Russia relationship that produces concrete results and draws NATO and Russia closer together."

Among Russia's chief worries is NATO's intention to offer membership to the former Soviet republics of Ukraine and Georgia. It also is troubled by U.S. plans to place antimissile defensive weapons in Romania and possibly other eastern European nations.

Clinton urged more military openness between NATO and Russia. Relations were frozen in the months after Russia fought a war with Georgia in 2008.

"European security will benefit if NATO and Russia are more open about our armaments, our military facilities and our exercises," she said. "NATO and Russia should have a regular exchange of information on posture, doctrine, and planned military exercises, as well as specific measures to permit observation of military exercises and to allow visits to new or significantly improved military installations."

More broadly, Clinton said NATO needs to revise its basic doctrine, known as its "strategic concept," to take into account the changing nature of threats faced by alliance member countries.

A group of experts led by former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright is working to update NATO's strategic concept, last revised in 1999, before the alliance began substantial military operations beyond its borders, most notably in Afghanistan. The new concept is expected to be formally adopted at an alliance summit in November in Lisbon, Portugal. NATO nations had a major falling out over the Iraq war in 2003, with several, including France, Germany and Belgium, opposing it and blocking alliance participation.

NATO's basic purpose has changed little, Clinton said.

"I believe that the original tenets of NATO's mission - defending our nations, strengthening trans-Atlantic ties and fostering European integration - still hold," she said. She added that what needs to change is how the alliance goes about pursuing its goals.

"As any good soldier knows, success in a protracted struggle is not simply a matter of having more troops or better equipment. It's also a function of how effectively you adapt to new circumstances," she said. "You don't win by fighting the last war. NATO cannot continue to succeed by looking in the rear view mirror."

She cited the example of recognizing that NATO is now engaged in combating security threats far beyond the borders of its member nations.

"Many threats we face have little or no respect for borders," she said. "Whether we're battling piracy, the menace of terrorism, or the prospect of weapons proliferation, we must be prepared to address new dangers regardless of where they originate."