Beyond False Oppositions: The Contemporary Relevance of Pierre Harmel

When reading Pierre Harmel’s 1967 report on ‘the Future Tasks of the Alliance’, one cannot help but admire how a mere seventeen paragraphs of text sufficed to set NATO on a straight path leading to the conclusion of the Cold War. After several shifts in NATO strategy, the Harmel report paved the way to approving the 1968 ‘flexible response’ strategic concept (MC 14/3), which would remain in place until the fall of the Berlin Wall and the drafting of the 1991 strategic concept. As it managed to reconcile NATO’s deterrence posture with a policy of détente, the Harmel Report effectively constituted a turning point in the history of the confrontation between East and West. Yet many years later, the report still raises questions. Was Pierre Harmel himself more of a dove than a hawk on defence matters? In what ways did his ideas about the Alliance reflect a broader framework of thought on the European political architecture as well as the wider international system? And to what extent do his ideas continue to carry relevance in today’s world, arguably beset by new forms of geopolitical unrest and rivalry?