287. Memorandum From the President’s Assistant for National Security
Affairs (Kissinger)
to President Nixon1
2
Washington, June 2, 1969.
SUBJECT:
- Implementation of Your NATO
Proposals
The North Atlantic Council (NAC) has now
discussed your proposal for establishing a Committee on the Challenges
of Modern Society (on May 14), and the proposals for periodic meetings
at the Deputy Foreign Minister level and creation of a more powerful
Special Political Planning Committee (on May 21).
The discussions in Brussels have made clear that the considered Allied
reaction has been generally positive though cautious to the idea of a
Committee on the Challenges of Modern Society, and generally negative on
Deputy Foreign Minister meetings and a new planning group.
At Tab A is a memorandum from Elliot
Richardson giving details of the status of the proposal
for a Committee on the Challenges of Modern Society, which has been
considered in some detail with the Allies. The Permanent Representatives
have agreed ad referendum to (a) visits this summer by NATO Secretary General Brosio to Allied capitals to discuss
your proposals; and (b) a special NAC
meeting this autumn, reinforced by high-level experts on environmental
affairs, to discuss this subject.
My own review of the reporting from Brussels leads me to conclude that
there are three basic reasons for the slowness and skepticism of our
Allies in responding to your proposals:
- --first, and most important, the proposals have been advanced
through NAC, where the Permanent
Representatives tend to see the new structures as challenges to
their own prerogatives, and to interpret US advocacy of change
as implying that NAC has not
been doing its job properly;
- --second, your proposals tend to cut across bureaucratic lines
and suggest a NATO role for
agencies of Allied Governments outside the Foreign Ministries,
which causes consternation among professional diplomats in the
capitals; and
- --third, the Allies traditionally are suspicious of plans to
create new NATO mechanisms
until it is perfectly clear why they are required and how they
will be used.
The State Department is currently undertaking a further series of
bilateral approaches to the allies both in allied capitals and by
calling in Ambassadors or Deputy Mission chiefs here. An aide memoire
giving additional details on how the Committee on Challenges of Modern
Society would function is being handed to all allied foreign
ministers.
I think this is the right approach since it may cut through some of the
inertia. If, after we have obtained responses to these demarches, the
pace still seems unsatisfactory we could consider a personal letter from
you to NATO heads of government.
Elliot Richardson will
provide a further progress report in a few days.
Attachment
Memorandum From the President’s Assistant for
National Security Affairs (Kissinger) to President Nixon
Washington, May 16, 1969
[Page 3]
SUBJECT: Implementation, of your NATO Proposals
Attached at Tab A is a progress report on the implementation of the
three proposals you made in your speech of April 10 to the NATO
Ministers. Our ambassadors are now in the process of laying the
groundwork in NATO capitals so that our NATO delegation will be in a
position to submit formal proposals—to the North Atlantic
Council.
[Page 4]
Tab A
Memorandum From the Under Secretary of State
(Richardson) to President Nixon
Washington, May 6, 1969
Subject: Implementation of your Proposals to the NATO Ministerial
Meeting
In your address at the commemorative session of the North Atlantic
Council on April 10, you called for the following three measures to
improve Western political consultations:
- -- Periodic meetings of Deputy Foreign Ministers
- -- Creation of a special-political planning group;
- -- Establishment of a committee on the challenges of
modern society.
Discussions at the Ministerial Meeting and comments thereafter from
capitals and NATO Permanent Representatives indicate, considerable
interest in implementing these proposals. Predictably there, are
areas of resistance from, certain quarters some Allies have
expressed concern over an expansion of NATO’s current structure
others have taken a conventional view towards expanding NATO’s
consultative role to include environmental problems. On the other
hand, there have been strong expressions of support for your
proposals from a number of the Allies; the Germans and Dutch, for
example, have evinced enthusiastic interest in NATO discussions on
problems of modern society.
Based on reports we have received thus far, we considered it
advisable to instruct Ambassadors in Allied capitals to make
bilateral approaches in order to develop support for your proposals
at the political level. We
[Page 5]
also believe it important to try to break this subject out of
traditional Foreign Office channels. As a further useful step in
this direction, NATO Secretary General Brosio may soon tour Allied
capitals in order to obtain high-level views on your proposals.
Specifically, we have taken the following steps on each of your
suggestions:
— Periodic Meetings of Deputy Foreign
Ministers:
We have urged that the first meeting take place in September, leaving
to participating officials the question of the schedule for
subsequent meetings. We have suggested that topics for consultation
by Deputy Foreign Ministers might include European security issues
which lend themselves to negotiation with the countries of Eastern
Europe; formal establishment of the Committee on the Challenges of
Modern Society, and of guidelines for this committee; and a
discussion of the work of the Special Political Planning Group.
– Special Political Planning Group:
We have called for the establishment of a planning group which would
consult on long-term issues beyond current Alliance operational
concerns. We believe this body should examine trends in an effort to
identify at early stages the problems that might arise, or could be
prevented from arising through advance action. If possible, we would
like to organize the first session of this group in June.
— Committee on Challenges of Modern
Society:
Our first objective in this area is to obtain early agreement in
principle among the Permanent Representatives for establishing this
committee. Once this decision is taken, we believe that, an ad hoc
exploratory group should be convened to discuss topics to be brought
before the committee, as well as organizational arrangements for
carrying this work forward. We have proposed that Allied
representatives to-this ad hoc group should be of the caliber of Pat
Moynihan Arthur Burns or James Allen.
[Page 6]
This ad hoc committee would report its
findings to Deputy Foreign Ministers at their September meeting;
they in turn would endorse or amend decisions of the ad hoc group.
The Committee on Challenges of Modern Society would then be formed
to meet in October or November.
The Council at Permanent Representatives level will meet to consider
these proposals again on May 14. We will complete our bilateral
discussions in capitals before then. In the light of these
discussions we will prepare additional instructions to our NATO
Ambassador to use at that meeting. That session should result in
further clarification of Allied views and be the first step towards
an action program.
[Page 7]
DEPARTMENT OF STATE
WASHINGTON
May 19, 1969
MEMORANDUM FOR THE PRESIDENT
Subject: Implementation of Your Proposal for Establishing a Committee
on the Challenges of Modern Society
In my memorandum of May 6, I outlined steps in NATO to implement the
proposals you made in your April 10 address for improving NATO’s
consultative machinery. On May 14, the North Atlantic Council,
exchanged views on the establishment of a Committee on the
Challenges of Modern Society.
Prior to the May 14 Council meeting, we had instructed our
Ambassadors in NATO capitals to make approaches at high levels of
government to gain support for your proposals Nonetheless, Allied
views expressed in the Council May 14 showed that further effort is
needed to achieve consensus on establishing the new Committee on
Challenges of Modern Society.
However, the Permanent Representatives agreed ad referendum to a),
visits this summer by NATO Secretary General Brosio to Allied
capitals to discuss your proposals; and b) a special meeting this
autumn of the Council, reinforced by high-level experts on
environmental affairs, to discuss this subject.
Although we fully support the Brosio tour, we would also like to see
an early meeting of officials who have direct responsibilities in
this field to prepare recommendations for consideration by the
Council on the procedure and substance of future Allied
consultations on the problems of modern society. We thus plan to
instruct our Ambassadors to make another round of approaches in NATO
capitals on your proposals and have
[Page 8]
suggested that the North Atlantic Council
have another full discussion on this subject in June. Our hope is to
have an exploratory group of high-level experts in the environmental
field meet in early September, prior to the reinforced Council
meeting and the proposed meeting of Deputy Foreign Ministers.
The Department will also be in touch with NATO Embassies in
Washington to emphasize our interest in this project.
On May 21, the Council will discuss your other two proposals for
improving NATO’s consultative machinery periodic meetings of Deputy
Foreign Ministers and the establishment of a special political
planning group.
Acting Secretary
