§ Mr. HancockTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence how the United Kingdom will help to prepare NATO forces for asymmetric warfare; and if he will make a statement. [117847]
§ Mr. SpellarNATO's updated Strategic Concept, launched at the Washington Summit in April 1999, recognises, at paragraph 24, that
Alliance security interests can be affected by other risks of a wider nature, including acts of terrorism, sabotage and organised crime, and by the disruption of the flow of vital resources.NATO's defence planning processes are designed to adapt Alliance forces to address these changing risks. In addition, much of the follow-on work from last year's Summit, including the Defence Capabilities Initiative (DCI), NATO's Force Structure Review (FSR), and the Weapons of Mass Destruction Initiative (WMDI), will help provide the capabilities that national forces assigned to NATO require if the Alliance is to meet a wide range of threats. The UK is making an important contribution to each of these initiatives.