The main motif of the conference was, of course, the twentieth anniversary of the end of the Cold War as symbolized by the dismantling of the Berlin Wall.
Former U.S. National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski gave a presentation replete with references to Russia's alleged "imperial aspirations," its threats to Georgia and Ukraine and its intent to become an "imperial world power." [14]
Sikorski, no stranger to Washington, having been resident fellow of the American Enterprise Institute and executive director of the New Atlantic Initiative there from 2002-2005 before returning home to become Poland's Defense Minister, suggested that recent joint Belarusian-Russian military exercises necessitated stronger NATO commitments in Northeastern Europe. Saying that the Alliance's Article 5 military assistance obligation -- which is why, by the way, there will soon be almost 3,000 Polish troops in Afghanistan -- was too "vague" and offered as a more concrete alternative something on the order of the 300,000 U.S. troops stationed in West Germany during the Cold War. [15]
The Polish government has subsequently denied that its foreign minister explicitly called for American troop deployments, and in fact he did not, but his comments are in line with several other recent events and statements.
For example, Poland revealed in late October that it planned a massive $60 billion upgrading of its armed forces. "Minister of Defense Bogdan Klich announced a plan to modernize the army within 14 programs: air defense systems, combat and cargo helicopters, naval modernization, espionage and unmanned aircraft, training simulators and equipment for soldiers....
"Klich announced plans to buy new LIFT combat training aircraft, Langust missile launchers, Krab self-propelled howitzers, Homar rocket launchers, as well as several more Rosomak tanks and 30 billion zloty will be spent on army modernization alone." [16]
The arrival at the same time of the American destroyer USS Ramage and its 250 marines, fresh from NATO war games off the coast of Scotland, "to participate in a military exercise with Polish navy officers," proves Sikorski's wishes are not being ignored. [17] Before leaving, the USS Ramage "which was participating in joint US-Polish maneuvers"shelled the coast of Poland, local TV-channel TVN24 ³ reported. [18] Commander Tom Williamson at the U.S. embassy in Warsaw said "The USS Ramage crew is being interrogated in relation to the case." [19]
Another American warship that had participated in the NATO naval maneuvers off Scotland, Joint Warrior 09-2, docked in Estonia afterward. The Aegis-equipped guided missile destroyer USS Cole.
The guided-missile frigate USS John L. Hall which included "embarked sailors of Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron 48 Detachment 9 ³ [20] arrived in Lithuania early this month. A U.S. navy officer said of the visit: "We are here as part of the United States Navy's continuing presence in the Baltic Sea".We are also here to work with the Lithuanian Navy, who has been a valuable partner and our visit here is part of the ongoing relationship between our two countries and our two navies." [21]
As American warships were demonstrating their "continuing presence in the Baltic Sea," Estonia's defense minister affirmed that "NATO has defence plans in the Baltics and they're being developed" [22], and his Latvian counterpart said, "It is important for Latvia that the new Alliance Strategic Concept will include points about the collective unity for the enforcement of the strategic security in the Baltic Sea region and the common responsibility for the future of Alliance military operations." [23]
Estonian Defense Minister Jaak Aaviksoo told The Associated Press "that his country sees new threats since Russia's invasion of Georgia last year and a cyber attack that targeted his country in 2007.
Aaviksoo met with U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates at the Pentagon on November 3 and said "that for Estonia the presence and visibility of the US in Europe and its mutual trust and support are very important." [24]
Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves, an American expatriate and former Radio Free Europe operative, offered to hold NATO drills in the Baltic states.
Defense Minister Imants Liegis recently confirmed that "Latvia is to hold large-scale military exercises in summer, in response to the Russian-Belarusian strategic exercises." [25] Not alone, no doubt.
The above catalog of military activities and bellicose statements should put to rest sanguine expectations resulting from the end of the Cold War, which never in fact ended but shifted its operations -- substantially -- eastwards.
Those whose names will be evoked and invoked on November 9 on the occasion of the anniversary of the dismantling of the Berlin Wall didn't fare well in the immediate aftermath.
