NATO questions

NATO

Answer the following questions in English. Remember to discuss your ideas in English (but you can use a word from French, Spanish or German if you can’t think of the word in English)

1. When was NATO set up?

2. Why was it set up?

3. How many members does NATO have currently?

4. What kind of organisation is it?

5. Which state was considered its enemy for more than 40 years?

6. Where is NATO based?

7. Which NATO member has its second largest army in terms of the number of soldiers?

8. How does NATO make decisions?

9. NATO adopted a new Strategic Concept at the Lisbon summit in 2010? What is it?

10. How have NATO’s goals changed?

11. How have NATO forces changed?

12. How has the deployment of NATO forces changed?

13. What are ‘out-of area’ operations?

14. Who is the NATO Secretary General at the moment?

15. Who is Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) ?

16. List some of NATO’s non-military responsibilities as set out in the Chicago Declaration?

17. When are the last NATO forces scheduled to leave Afghanistan?

18. What is ‘smart’ defence?

19. What is the NATO Missile Defence System? What is its purpose? What stage has it reached in its development? Why is it controversial?

20. Comment on NATO’s current financial situation.

21. How have events in Georgia and Ukraine affected NATO?

22. Where was NATO’s last meeting held? What conclusions did it reach?

23. What do you know about the European Defence Agency, the Permanent Structured Cooperation on security and defence (PESCO) and current initiatives regarding EU Defence cooperation?

24. Who is The Chairman of the European Union Military Committee?
25. What is Enhanced Forward Presence?

26. What is President Trump's position on NATO?

The European Green Deal

Make notes and add it to your notes on Climate Change:

https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_19_6691
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/dec/11/europe-climate-crisis-european-green-deal-growth
https://www.politico.eu/article/the-commissions-green-deal-plan-unveiled/

This is another good text for doing oral translation from Italian to English with both texts open to check and improve your vocabulary.

Possible titles for extra essays

1) The International Criminal Court – its structure, role and effectiveness to date.
2)  What are the main factors that will influence the evolution of relations between the EU and the Russian Federation?
3) Climate change, global warming and renewable energy sources and technological development. Too little, too late? Discuss using current data (2018-2019). Include the European Green Deal (see next post).

Syrian refugees

https://webdoc.france24.com/shrinking-spaces/index.html

EU and Russian military forces

Russia's armed forces consist of 798,527 active personnel and also has a total of 2,572,500 personnel in reserve.

In total it has a defence budget of more than £33bn, making it the fourth largest in the world, behind the US, China, and the UK, according to Business Insider.

The second country to develop nuclear weapons, Russia has the largest nuclear arsenal in the world with a total of 7,000 warheads.

Mr Putin also has access to a total of 351 naval assets, including 63 submarines.

European Union

It is harder to work out an exact total of military personnel available in the EU, who would be likely to be allies in an outbreak of war, due to the sheer number of countries.

However, they certainly have more military personnel than Russia.

Combining France, Germany, Italy, the UK, Greece and Spain, would give Western Europe a combined force of 969,000 full time soldiers.

Meanwhile, the combined spending on defence between the six countries is more than £130bn.

However, only the UK and France have nuclear weapons in the EU, consisting of 515 between them.

The countries have access to a total of 579 naval assets, including 48 submarines.

Relative Strength in Conventional Terms and in Warheads

If Russia and the EU ended up in a conflict, the latter clearly has the larger conventional military force.

Russia also has the largest area of land to defend, commanding the largest land mass in the world, bordering both Finland and North Korea.

In total it has a landmass of more than 17 million square kilometres.

In contrast, Western Europe’s landmass covers fewer than 5 million square kilometres.

However, Russia possesses more than ten times the nuclear weaponry of the EU, if total war broke out between the two it is likely that Mr Putin would be in the ascendency.

Sunday Express Nov 20, 2017

https://www.euractiv.com/section/global-europe/interview/conflict-analyst-eu-would-have-second-most-powerful-military-on-earth/

Russia and the EU Baltic and Eastern states

https://www.economist.com/europe/2018/10/04/the-baltics-fear-european-strategic-autonomy

http://www.iai.it/en/pubblicazioni/russia-and-baltics-testing-ground-nato-eu-defence-cooperation

https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2018/06/07/russian-advocates-italys-new-government-unnerves-western-allies/

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/russia-latvia-missile-tests-baltic-sea-airspace-donald-trump-baltic-leaders-white-house-a8289451.html

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/op-eds/poland-is-beset-by-russian-revanchism-western-decadence-and-dangers-from-within

https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/07/10/they-will-die-in-tallinn-estonia-girds-for-war-with-russia-218965

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-43626368

https://www.npr.org/2018/10/28/654142363/a-new-law-in-latvia-aims-to-preserve-national-language-by-limiting-russian-in-sc?t=1542089043684

https://www.npr.org/2018/10/28/654142363/a-new-law-in-latvia-aims-to-preserve-national-language-by-limiting-russian-in-sc?t=1542089043684

http://euromaidanpress.com/2018/10/16/romanian-government-concerns-about-russian-actions-in-black-sea-encourage-ukrainians/

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-baltic-nato-russia-idUSKBN15O2HZ

A possible essay plan on Russia and the EU.

What are the main factors that will influence the evolution of relations between the European Union and the Russian Federation?

Introduction: Start with a reference to a recent development regarding the relationship to show your knowledge regarding the question and the Italian position. Explain why a good relationship with Russia is important to the EU and Italy in particular.

Line of argument: This essay will argue that Italy and the EU need to strike a balance in relations with Russia between exerting pressure on Russia to modify its position on the Ukraine and Georgia questions and to refrain from interference in EU affairs, while at the same time reassuring Russia that Europe continues to want a strong relationship with the Russian Federation, one built on mutual interest and rebuilding trust, close economic ties and cooperation in dealing with global threats.

Explain what Western hopes were regarding Russia at the end of the Cold War and how these were disappointed. Russia's evolution over the past 30 years. Outline how the desire to escape from the Russian sphere of influence led the ex-Soviet satellite states to join NATO and the EU and how this is viewed in Moscow. Then, the gradual reassertion of Russian influence in Eastern Europe and elsewhere, Transnistria, Georgia, Ukraine and its evolution into an authoritarian state with ambitions to play a greater role in world affairs, e.g. in Syria, Libya and elsewhere.

Explain the US and EU reaction to the Ukraine questions, the sanctions, the NATO Enhanced Forward Presence mission. Explain the EU and Italy's difficulty in balancing the need for a stable relationship with Russia as an economic and security partner with the need to reassure EU Eastern European members about their future security and not to ignore the occupation of parts of Ukraine and the human and civil rights violations in Russia. Quote Mogherini and/or Conte on EU-Russia relations. You could mention the US role in all this and the ambivalent stance of the Trump administration and the need to strengthen the European Defence Agency (with PESCO).

Finish by pointing out that despite the problems and real challenges that the relationship involves cooperation and dialogue are necessary to both sides and relations are obviously much better than during the Cold War.