At the "Your Ideas, Your NATO" event in Berlin on May 21, Ambassador of the United States to Germany Philip Murphy addressed the audience on a number of important issues, including how the goal of youth engagement and the proposed transparency initiatives in Atlantic Memo 38 work hand-in-hand as important policies for a 21st Century NATO.
The Ambassador stated that transparency was a clear shared value among NATO Members and that "implementing some of the pragmatic, organizational suggestions" in the memo would be a good step towards more openness. He emphasized that this is an increasingly important issue when facing "abstract" 21st Century challenges like cyber threats, and that it is a key consideration when NATO reaches out to young people. Ambassador Murphy also noted that while "we may have differente ideas about how to best go about implementing" our commitment to shared values, the goal of transparency is "one we all share."
The Ambassador also singled out the importance of multinational military training, emphasized in the memo's recommendations on "NATO Academies", suggestions well received by other policy makers as well.
Watch Ambassador Murphy's full statement in the video below (in English from 00:30):
Memos from the "Your Ideas, Your NATO" competition have also received feedback from Stefanie Babst, NATO's Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Public Diplomacy, and other policy makers from NATO Member governments, including the Defense Minister of Canada.
Watch the winners' presentations here.
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May 30, 2012
Lawrence Efana