PAYS Day 4 - "International Security and NATO" and "NATO's role in Security System Reform"

The fourth day of the 14th Portuguese Atlantic Youth Seminar began with the morning presentations of Inês Narciso, from the Portuguese Atlantic Youth Association (PAYA), and Mónica Ferro, from the School of Social and Political Sciences.

Focusing on the topic “International Security and NATO”, Ms. Narciso made an interesting analysis, which was accompanied by a series of key questions related to the discussion around the new Strategic Concept of the organisation. 

The lecturer found that the post Cold War period meant several changes for NATO, globalisation, pandemics and terrorism being some examples. Considering that soon the security paradigm started to evolve, as international organisations and the individual join the State as providers, and that the international society faces “New Wars”, as today’s conflicts occur more and more on an internal level, there’s a necessity to update the concept of Collective Defence and of “armed attack”.

Several challenges arise, externally, the shift of power and the multipolarity of the international system, proliferation and energy issues, internally, the question of burden sharing, the importance of geography in threat assessment and the relations with Russia.

NATO’s scope was object of analysis too, questioning its either global or regional focus, as there’s a tendency to out of area operations, which will pose the question of future enlargements and of the ongoing close relation with the UN.

The second presentation, of Mónica Ferro of the School of Social and Political Sciences, focused “NATO’s role in the Security System Reform”. Since the late nineties the approach as slowly changed as the reform is to be put forward on an internal level by each State, with different objectives, as of assuring human security or development. This reform will naturally include cooperation with organisations such as NATO or the E.U.

Carina Machado