US develops a strategic Black Sea plan
Category=3D35&idarticle=3D8254

The Pentagon pushes to get Black Sea countries to develop a regional
approach to security issues, and is throwing its weight behind
Turkey’s leadership in the region.

Friday, March 02, 2007 Joshua Kucera

The US Department of Defense has drafted a new strategy for the Black
Sea region, focusing on getting the individual countries around the
Black Sea to develop a regional approach to security issues.

Some of the strategy’s finer points are still being developed, andthe
implementation may be slowed by the US preoccupation with Iraq and
Afghanistan.

But it nevertheless represents a concerted effort by Washington to get
involved in a region traditionally dominated by Turkey and Russia.

To that end, the US is throwing its weight behind Turkey’s leadership
in Black Sea regional efforts. That’s in part because Ankara and
Washington share the same goals in the area, and, in part, because
Washington wants to allay Turkish concerns about American intentions.

The strategy’s main concept was completed late last year and it
remains classified. But its general outline was described to
EurasiaNet by a Pentagon official, speaking on condition of
anonymity. US officials are still in the process of relaying the
strategy’s contents to regional governments, including Turkey,
Georgia, Ukraine, Russia, Romania, Bulgaria, Moldova, Armenia,
Azerbaijan and Greece. First to be briefed was Turkey, in
acknowledgement of Ankara’ s leadership role in the region. "Without
Turkey, we can’t get this to work," the official said.

The other key Black Sea player is Russia, and the Pentagon has low
expectations on Moscow’s willingness to go along with US plans. "We
don’t expect the Russians to be cooperative; they see this as
interference in their sphere of influence. However, we’re committed to
seeking Russian cooperationwherever we can get it – we don’t want them
as an adversary," the official said.

"However, we won’t allow ourselves to be held hostage to Russian
objections."

The US is actively encouraging countries around the Black Sea to take
part in the Turkey-led Black Sea Harmony maritime security program,
through which intelligence on sea traffic is shared among all the
coastal states. In December, Russia became the first country to
formally join the program. Ukraine and Romania are also reportedly
close to joining. Georgia’s navy is not large enough to provide any
significant intelligence, although it does participate in information
exchanges.

The cooperation between Turkey and Russia is seen in some quarters as
a combined effort to keep NATO out of the Black Sea. NATO operates a
similar maritime security operation in the Mediterranean Sea, called
Active Endeavor, and NATO has tried to expand that program into the
Black Sea. Turkey, however,is worried that NATO’s incursion into the
Black Sea would diminish Ankara’s influence there. Some Turkish
officials also fear that an expanded NATO regional role could erode
the 1936 Montreux Convention, by which Turkey maintains control over
the Bosporus Straits. Russia, meanwhile, remains opposed to US
influence in its former satellite countries.

"I don’t think we can help that the Russians see this as a zero-sum
game, but I do think we can help that with the Turks," the official
added. "The Turkish approach is similar to ours [in dealing with
Russia]: pragmatic, but they won’t do anything detrimental to their
national security."

The US doesn’t see a specific threat in the Black Sea region at
present, but that is reason enough to expand the surveillance and
monitoring of the area, the official said. Potential threats include
the transport of weapons of mass destruction, drugs or terrorists.
"One would presume some of that goes on, but we don’t know," the
official said. It’s possible the threat is not great, "but right now
we don’t have the detection and surveillancecapabilities to know if
that’s the case."

In addition to maritime surveillance, the US would like to see
countries in the Black Sea region improve crisis response capabilities
and border security.

But the program may be slowed or scaled back, given the Pentagon’s
preoccupation these days with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the
official said.

"The United States has given a lot of thought to the Black Sea, but I
don’t believe we have a clear implementation strategy" because of the
two major wars, the official said.

_EurasiaNet_ () provides information and
analysis about political, economic, environmental, and social
developments in the countries of Central Asia and the Caucasus, as
well as in Russia, the Middle East, and Southwest Asia. The website
presents a variety of perspectives on contemporary developments,
utilizing a network of correspondents based both in the West and in
the region. The aim of EurasiaNet is to promote informed decision
making among policy makers, as well as broadening interest in
theregion among the general public. EurasiaNet is operated by the
Central Eurasia Project of the Open Society Institute.

Joshua Kucera is a Washington, DC,-based freelance writer who
specializes in security issues in Central Asia, the Caucasus and the
Middle East.

Copyright © 2007 Spero

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress