SUPERPOWERS
NATO says may boost defence planning, amid chill with Russia

Jaap de Hoop Scheffer. Photo courtesy AFP.
by Staff Writers
 London (AFP) Sept 19, 2008
 NATO may "step up" its planning and training to defend the 26-nation bloc's territory, the alliance's head said Friday, amid tensions between the West and Moscow over the recent Georgia-Russia conflict.

But speaking in London after a meeting of NATO defence ministers, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said there was no reason for alarm.

The NATO ministers including US Defence Secretary Robert Gates "concluded that planning and training for collective defence of NATO territory is what this alliance has done for 60 years," he said.

"We may step up some elements here or there," he told reporters, before adding that "planning and training for collective defence is, for NATO ... business as usual."

"No one should be surprised or alarmed, in other words."

His comments come amid a deep chill between the West and Moscow, which earlier Friday accused NATO of provoking last month's conflict between Georgia and Russia, an accusation the alliance has refuted.

The NATO defence ministers' meeting focused on transforming the alliance from a Cold War security grouping to a more flexibile regional bloc, though De Hoop Scheffer stressed that the discussions had not led to any formal decisions.

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SUPERPOWERS
Defense Focus: Coming wars -- Part Two
 Washington (UPI) Sep 18, 2008
The rapid success of the Russian army in conquering one-third of the territory of neighboring Georgia in only five days last month has started sobering up a lot of military planners around the world, especially in the United States and Europe. For it teaches the sobering lesson that significant land wars between major industrial powers are not inconceivable after all.
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