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Report to the Chairman, Committee on Foreign Relations, U.S. Senate: 

United States Government Accountability Office:
GAO: 

September 2010: 

NATO Partnerships: 

DOD Needs to Assess U.S. Assistance in Response to Changes to the 
Partnership for Peace Program: 

GAO-10-1015: 

GAO Highlights: 

Highlights of GAO-10-1015, a report to the Chairman, Committee on 
Foreign Relations, U.S. Senate. 

Why GAO Did This Study: 

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) established the 
Partnership for Peace (PfP) to increase cooperation with former Warsaw 
Pact members and provide many of these countries with a path to NATO 
membership. As NATO confronts new security challenges, including the 
war in Afghanistan, its relationships with partner countries have 
grown in scope and importance. Additionally, NATO is developing a new 
Strategic Concept to clarify its mission and activities, including its 
relationship with PfP countries and other partners. The Department of 
Defense (DOD)-funded Warsaw Initiative Fund (WIF) supports the goals 
of the PfP program. GAO was asked to review (1) how the PfP program 
has evolved since GAO last reported on it in 2001; (2) options NATO is 
considering for the future of the PfP and other partnership programs; 
and (3) support to PfP countries through the U.S. WIF program. GAO 
analyzed NATO, DOD, and State Department (State) documents; and WIF 
funding data. GAO also interviewed DOD, State, NATO, and selected 
country officials. 

What GAO Found: 

The PfP program has evolved in four key ways since July 2001, when GAO 
last reported on it. First, several former PfP countries from Central 
and Eastern Europe have become NATO members, resulting in both a 
decline in the number of countries participating in the PfP and in the 
number of PfP countries seeking NATO membership. Second, NATO has 
developed additional mechanisms for engaging with PfP countries, 
allowing partners additional opportunities to tailor their 
participation in the PfP based upon their individual objectives and 
capacities. Third, the growing size and significance of the NATO 
operation in Afghanistan has increased NATO’s emphasis on developing 
PfP countries’ capabilities for participating in NATO military 
operations and the strategic importance of the Caucasus and Central 
Asian PfP countries. Fourth, as NATO has taken steps to wind down its 
peacekeeping efforts in the Balkans, it has increasingly used the PfP 
to build cooperative relationships with countries in the region, 
marking a shift in its role in stabilizing that part of Europe. 

NATO’s new Strategic Concept is expected to highlight the importance 
of the PfP and other NATO partnerships, and discuss ways to strengthen 
them further. First, NATO is debating how to strengthen its 
partnerships with a growing number of countries outside of the PfP. 
Some NATO members disagree about the extent to which NATO should 
pursue a more global partnership agenda. Second, NATO is considering 
options to enhance its routine and crisis consultations with PfP 
countries on security issues. Third, NATO is evaluating how to more 
effectively engage with PfP countries, such as those in Central Asia, 
that are not seeking NATO membership. Fourth, NATO is debating how to 
best balance PfP countries’ aspirations for membership with Russian 
concerns about NATO expansion. 

The changing composition of countries participating in the PfP program 
has affected the budget and focus of the WIF program, which supports 
the participation of PfP countries in military exercises and military 
contact programs. The decline in the number of countries in the PfP 
program contributed to a drop in average annual WIF funding from about 
$43 million in fiscal years 1996 through 2005 to about $29 million in 
fiscal years 2006 through 2010, according to a DOD official. Moreover, 
WIF funding is no longer concentrated on PfP countries aspiring to 
join NATO, as it was in the initial years of the program. In 2006, DOD 
established the Defense Institution Building program as a key focus of 
the WIF program to help PfP countries develop more professional and 
transparent defense establishments. Planned activities included 
assisting with strategic defense reviews; and developing defense 
planning, budgeting, and resource management systems, among others. 
DOD has encountered challenges implementing this program, including 
potential duplication with other U.S. assistance in some countries and 
limited interest from other countries, which have contributed to 
frequent cancellations of planned activities. DOD has not formally 
evaluated the WIF program since 2001, although there have been changes 
since then in the composition of participating countries and the focus 
of the WIF program. 

What GAO Recommends: 

GAO recommends that, following the establishment of NATO’s new 
Strategic Concept, which could result in changes to NATO’s PfP 
program, the Secretary of Defense conduct an evaluation of the U.S. 
WIF program to ensure that it effectively supports the goals of NATO’s 
PfP program. DOD concurred with the recommendation. 

View [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-10-1015] or key 
components. For more information, contact Joseph Christoff at (202) 
512-8979 or christoffj@gao.gov. 

[End of section] 

Contents: 

Letter: 

Results in Brief: 

Background: 

The PfP Has Evolved in Several Key Ways Due to Changing Political 
Circumstances and Security Threats: 

NATO Is Considering Ways to Strengthen Its Partnerships as Part of the 
Development of Its New Strategic Concept: 

Although Eligible Countries and the Focus of the WIF Program Have 
Changed, DOD Has Not Evaluated the Program since 2001: 

Conclusion: 

Recommendation for Executive Action: 

Agency Comments and Our Evaluation: 

Appendix I: Scope and Methodology: 

Appendix II: Description of DOD Components Responsible for Executing 
the WIF Program: 

Appendix III: Other U.S. Security Cooperation Programs Supporting WIF 
and PfP Goals: 

Appendix IV: NATO Areas of Cooperation: 

Appendix V: PfP Countries' PARP Partnership Goals: 

Appendix VI: GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments: 

Tables: 

Table 1: Partner Countries' Participation in Key PfP Mechanisms: 

Table 2: WIF Funding for Countries Seeking NATO Membership, Fiscal 
Year 2010: 

Table 3: Descriptions of and Funding for WIF Implementing Components, 
Fiscal Year 2010: 

Table 4: Descriptions of U.S. Security Cooperation Programs that 
Provide Assistance Related to WIF and NATO PfP Programs: 

Table 5: Areas of Cooperation in the 2010-2011 EAPWP: 

Table 6: PfP Countries' Most Frequently Selected Partnership Goals in 
2008: 

Figures: 

Figure 1: Former PfP Countries that Have Joined NATO: 

Figure 2: Comparison of PfP Countries in 2001 and 2010: 

Figure 3: Countries' Troop Contributions to NATO's Operation in 
Afghanistan (ISAF) as of August 2010: 

Figure 4: Countries' Troop Contributions to NATO's Operation in Kosovo 
(KFOR) as of February 2010: 

Figure 5: Timeline of Key NATO Events in the Balkans: 

Figure 6: Map of Countries Participating in NATO's Partnership 
Programs: 

Figure 7: Fiscal Year 2010 WIF Budget Allocated to the DIB Program, by 
Country and Region: 

Figure 8: Funding for PfP Countries from WIF and Related Security 
Cooperation Programs, Fiscal Year 2009: 

Abbreviations: 

CENTCOM: Central Command: 

COCOM: Combatant Command: 

CTR: Cooperative Threat Reduction: 

DIB: Defense Institution Building: 

DOD: Department of Defense: 

DSCA: Defense Security Cooperation Agency: 

EAPC: Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council: 

EAPWP: Euro-Atlantic Partnership Work Plan: 

EU: European Union: 

EUCOM: European Command: 

FMF: Foreign Military Financing: 

ICI: Istanbul Cooperation Initiative: 

IMET: International Military Education and Training: 

ISAF: International Security Assistance Force: 

KFOR: Kosovo Force: 

MAP: Membership Action Plan: 

MD: Mediterranean Dialogue: 

NATO: North Atlantic Treaty Organization: 

PARP: Planning and Review Process: 

PfP: Partnership for Peace: 

State: Department of State: 

TCA: Traditional Combatant Commander Activities: 

UN: United Nations: 

WIF: Warsaw Initiative Fund: 

[End of section] 

United States Government Accountability Office: 

Washington, DC 20548: 

September 30, 2010: 

The Honorable John F. Kerry: 
Chairman: 
Committee on Foreign Relations: 
United States Senate: 

Dear Mr. Chairman: 

As the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) confronts new 
security challenges, including the war in Afghanistan, its 
relationships with partner countries have grown in scope and 
importance. NATO established its principal partnership program--the 
Partnership for Peace (PfP)--in 1994, primarily to increase defense 
cooperation with former Warsaw Pact members and other former communist 
states in Central and Eastern Europe. The PfP also provided many of 
these countries with a path to NATO membership. To support the 
objectives of the PfP program, in 1994, the United States established 
the Warsaw Initiative Fund (WIF), which provided about $30 million in 
Department of Defense (DOD) funding in fiscal year 2010 to facilitate 
the participation of developing PfP countries in military exercises 
and military contact programs. In July 2001, we reported that the WIF 
and PfP programs had produced important benefits for participating 
countries, as evidenced by their contributions to NATO-led operations 
in the Balkans and the addition of three partner countries to NATO 
membership in 1999.[Footnote 1] Since then, the strategic context for 
NATO's use of the PfP has changed significantly. Most importantly, 
NATO admitted an additional nine countries as members and began a 
major military operation in Afghanistan. In addition, NATO has 
expanded its relationships with other partner countries outside of the 
PfP program. To address the range of security challenges it faces, 
NATO is developing a new Strategic Concept to clarify its mission and 
activities, including its relationships with PfP and other partners. 
NATO intends to approve the new Strategic Concept at its November 2010 
summit. 

In response to your request, this report (1) describes how the PfP 
program has evolved since we last reported on it in 2001; (2) 
describes options NATO is considering for the future of the PfP and 
other partnership programs under the new Strategic Concept; and (3) 
analyzes support to PfP countries through the U.S. WIF program. 

To address these objectives, we analyzed NATO, DOD, and Department of 
State (State) documents; academic literature related to PfP and WIF 
programs; and WIF funding data since fiscal year 2006. According to 
DOD, no reliable data showing the distribution of WIF budgets among 
eligible countries were available before fiscal year 2006. We met with 
DOD and State officials in Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Mission to 
NATO in Brussels, Belgium. We also met with NATO officials at both 
NATO Headquarters in Brussels and at Supreme Headquarters Allied 
Powers Europe in Mons, Belgium, as well as with representatives from 
several PfP countries and one NATO member country. In addition, we 
conducted phone interviews with geographic U.S. combatant command 
officials who have PfP countries in their areas of responsibility--
European Command in Stuttgart, Germany, and Central Command in Tampa, 
Florida. We selected three countries--Bosnia-Herzegovina, Georgia, and 
Kazakhstan--to examine in greater depth NATO's bilateral relationship 
with PfP partners. We sought to pick countries that differed, among 
other things, in terms of their geographic location, level of 
participation in the PfP, interest in NATO membership, and 
contributions to NATO operations. We met with State and DOD officials 
at the U.S. Embassy in Tbilisi, Georgia; Government of Georgia 
officials; and NATO officials based in Tbilisi. We also conducted 
telephone interviews with U.S. officials in Sarajevo, Bosnia-
Herzegovina; and Astana, Kazakhstan; and with an official from NATO 
Headquarters, Sarajevo. See appendix I for a detailed discussion of 
our scope and methodology. 

We conducted this performance audit from November 2009 to September 
2010 in accordance with generally accepted government auditing 
standards. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit 
to obtain sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable 
basis for our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives. 
We believe that the evidence obtained provides a reasonable basis for 
our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives. 

Results in Brief: 

In response to changing political circumstances and security threats, 
the PfP program has evolved in four key ways since July 2001, when we 
last reported on it. First, several former PfP countries from Central 
and Eastern Europe have become NATO members, resulting in both a 
decline in the number of countries participating in the PfP and in the 
number of PfP countries seeking NATO membership. For example, in July 
2001, NATO had granted Membership Action Plans (MAP) to 9 of the 26 
PfP countries; as of September 2010, only 3 of the 22 current PfP 
countries (Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia, and Montenegro) had MAPs. 
[Footnote 2] MAP is the final step countries complete before NATO 
membership and requires countries to undertake an intensive set of 
reforms that extend beyond their defense institutions, to bring the 
countries in line with NATO standards. While the PfP program provides 
a means for interested countries to pursue NATO membership, it has 
also always enabled other countries that are not seeking membership to 
maintain cooperative relationships with NATO. Second, NATO has 
developed additional mechanisms for engaging with PfP countries. For 
example, in 2002, NATO developed the Individual Partnership Action 
Plan, which provides PfP countries the opportunity to establish reform 
goals and receive tailored assistance from NATO to meet these goals, 
without having to commit to pursuing NATO membership as with the MAP. 
Third, the growing size and significance of NATO's operation in 
Afghanistan has increased both NATO's emphasis on developing PfP 
countries' capabilities for participating in NATO military operations 
and the strategic importance of the Caucasus and Central Asian PfP 
countries to NATO, given their proximity to Afghanistan.[Footnote 3] 
As of August 2010, 11 PfP countries were contributing about 2,000 
troops to the operation, and four Central Asian and two Caucasus 
partners were providing logistical and/or host nation support. Fourth, 
as NATO has taken steps to wind down its peacekeeping efforts in the 
Balkans, it has increasingly used the PfP to build cooperative 
relationships with countries in the region, marking a shift in its 
role in stabilizing that part of Europe.[Footnote 4] 

NATO's new Strategic Concept is expected to highlight the importance 
of the PfP and other NATO partnerships and discuss ways to strengthen 
these partnerships further. First, NATO is considering how best to 
deepen its relationships with its increasing number of partner 
countries outside of the PfP. For example, to more effectively engage 
with countries in the Mediterranean Dialogue (MD) and the Istanbul 
Cooperation Initiative (ICI), various NATO stakeholders have 
recommended focusing on security issues of mutual interest such as 
nonproliferation and terrorism.[Footnote 5] Additionally, NATO is 
considering options to provide other partners, such as Australia and 
Japan, that are major military or financial contributors to NATO 
operations, with more concrete ways in which they can participate in 
the shaping of strategy and decisions on missions to which they 
contribute.[Footnote 6] Second, NATO is seeking to enhance routine and 
crisis consultations with PfP countries on security issues. For 
instance, some NATO stakeholders have recommended that NATO strengthen 
its existing commitments to PfP members to hold consultations if their 
security is threatened, such as during the August 2008 Russia-Georgia 
War. Some NATO members are reluctant to strengthen such commitments, 
however, due to concerns that it may involve NATO in conflicts that 
are not in its best interests or create unrealistic expectations among 
PfP countries regarding potential NATO assistance. Third, NATO is 
seeking more effective engagement with PfP countries not aspiring to 
NATO membership, such as those in Central Asia. Among other things, 
NATO is considering how to better coordinate and leverage its members' 
bilateral assistance to these countries. Fourth, NATO is seeking to 
balance the membership aspirations of some PfP countries with Russian 
concerns about NATO expansion. 

The changing composition of countries participating in the PfP program 
has affected the budget and focus of DOD's WIF program. The decline in 
the number of countries participating in the PfP program contributed 
to a drop in average annual WIF funding from about $43 million in 
fiscal years 1996 through 2005 to about $29 million in fiscal years 
2006 through 2010, according to DOD officials. Moreover, the WIF 
funding is no longer distributed primarily to countries aspiring to 
become NATO members, as in the initial years of the program. The WIF 
program targeted about 70 percent of funding to aspiring countries in 
the initial years of the program from fiscal years 1994 through 2000, 
whereas it only distributed about 20 percent of the 2010 WIF budget to 
the four PfP countries that currently aspire to join NATO. In 
addition, DOD established the Defense Institution Building (DIB) 
program in 2006 as a key focus of the WIF program. DOD developed the 
DIB program, which received about 20 percent of the WIF budget in 
fiscal year 2010, to help PfP countries develop more professional and 
transparent defense establishments. DIB program activities included 
assisting with strategic defense reviews; developing defense planning, 
budgeting, and resource management systems; and developing 
professional military education programs, among others. However, DOD 
has encountered challenges implementing this program, including 
potential duplication with other U.S.-funded assistance in some 
countries and limited interest from other countries, which have 
contributed to frequent cancellations of planned activities. For 
example, Georgia and Bosnia preferred to work through ongoing 
assistance provided by military advisors, funded by the U.S. Foreign 
Military Financing (FMF) program, rather than through DIB program 
activities. DOD officials noted that they have undertaken efforts to 
periodically review the WIF program and adapt it to changes in the PfP 
program. However, DOD has not formally evaluated the WIF program since 
2001, before changes in the focus of the program and the composition 
of participating countries. 

We are recommending that, following the establishment of NATO's new 
Strategic Concept, which could result in changes to NATO's PfP 
program, the Secretary of Defense conduct an evaluation of the U.S. 
WIF program to ensure that it effectively supports the goals of NATO's 
PfP program. 

We provided a draft of this report to the Secretaries of Defense and 
State for their review and comment. DOD provided oral comments stating 
that the Department concurs with our recommendation. DOD and State 
also provided technical comments, which we incorporated in the report 
as appropriate. 

Background: 

The North Atlantic Treaty was signed on April 4, 1949, by 12 European 
and North American countries to provide collective defense against the 
emerging threat that the Soviet Union posed to the democracies of 
Western Europe. Since its inception, NATO's key objective has been to 
achieve a lasting peace in the North Atlantic area that is based on 
the common values of democracy, rule of law, and individual liberty. 
Currently, 28 countries are members of NATO.[Footnote 7] Article 10 of 
the treaty permits accession of additional European states if they are 
in a position to further the treaty's principles and contribute to 
North Atlantic security.[Footnote 8] Under Article 5 of the North 
Atlantic Treaty, members of NATO agree that an armed attack against 
any member is considered to be an attack against them all. 

The NATO PfP program was launched at the January 1994 NATO summit in 
Brussels as a way for the alliance to engage the former members of the 
Warsaw Pact and other former communist states in Central and Eastern 
Europe.[Footnote 9] Currently, 22 countries from Europe, Eurasia, and 
Central Asia are in the PfP program.[Footnote 10] The objectives of 
the partnership are to (1) facilitate transparency in national defense 
planning and budgeting processes; (2) ensure democratic control of 
defense forces; (3) maintain the capability and readiness to 
contribute to crisis response operations under the United Nations (UN) 
and other international organizations; (4) develop cooperative 
military relations with NATO for the purposes of joint planning, 
training, and exercises for peacekeeping; search and rescue; and 
humanitarian operations; and (5) develop forces that are better able 
to operate with NATO members.[Footnote 11] NATO also uses the PfP to 
support countries interested in NATO membership, although it does not 
promise eventual membership. NATO does not extend Article 5 protection 
to PfP countries or any country other than NATO members. 

In addition to the PfP program, NATO has established partnerships with 
other groups of countries located beyond Europe, Eurasia, and Central 
Asia to build security relationships and maintain dialogue with 
countries in other regions of the world. NATO established the MD 
partnership in 1994--the same year as the PfP. As of September 2010, 
it includes seven African and Middle Eastern countries.[Footnote 12] 
At the June 2004 NATO Summit in Istanbul, NATO established the ICI, 
and invited six countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council to 
participate.[Footnote 13] NATO has also established less formalized 
partnership relationships with additional countries, referring to them 
as "Partners across the Globe."[Footnote 14] 

Since the mid-1990s, NATO has initiated several military operations, 
most notably the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in 
Afghanistan. Initially, ISAF was a coalition of volunteering countries 
deployed under the authority of the UN Security Council.[Footnote 15] 
In August 2003, the Alliance assumed strategic command, control, and 
coordination of the mission and established a permanent ISAF 
headquarters in Kabul. Since then, the operation has grown to about 
120,000 troops from 47 countries, including all NATO members, as of 
August 2010. NATO also intervened militarily in the aftermath of the 
disintegration of the former Yugoslavia to halt conflict in Bosnia- 
Herzegovina in 1995, Kosovo in 1999, and Macedonia in 2001. Since 
December 2004, the NATO-led Kosovo Force (KFOR) has been the only 
remaining large-scale Allied force deployment in the Balkans, although 
NATO maintains headquarters in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina; and 
Skopje, Macedonia; to assist the host governments in defense reform 
and NATO integration. In addition, NATO's naval forces lead Operation 
Active Endeavour, a maritime surveillance operation, launched after 
the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, to detect, deter, and 
protect against terrorist activity in the Mediterranean. NATO vessels 
started patrolling the Eastern Mediterranean in October 2001 and 
eventually expanded to the entire Mediterranean in March 2004. NATO 
also has a noncombat training mission in Iraq, begun in 2004; and a 
counterpiracy mission off the Horn of Africa, known as Operation Ocean 
Shield, begun in 2009. 

DOD launched the WIF program in July 1994 to support countries that 
are members of the PfP program. DOD uses defense-wide Operation and 
Maintenance, and Research and Development funds for the WIF program 
according to the laws and policies governing these types of funds. The 
WIF program's goals include: 

* assisting PfP partners in building defense institutions that are 
transparent, accountable, and professional; 

* improving U.S./NATO-PfP partner interoperability to enhance partner 
contributions to coalition operations; 

* supporting PfP partner integration with NATO; and: 

* ensuring democratic control of the armed forces. 

WIF funding supports the participation of PfP countries in bilateral 
and multilateral military exercises and military contact programs, 
including seminars, workshops, conferences, exchanges, and visits. 
Within DOD, different components are responsible for the 
implementation of the WIF program. Appendix II provides descriptions 
of these components and the level of WIF funding allocated to them in 
the fiscal year 2010 budget. WIF funding may also be used in 
conjunction with other security cooperation programs that support the 
goals of the WIF and PfP programs. Appendix III provides descriptions 
of these related programs and the level of funding they provided to 
PfP countries in fiscal year 2009. DOD relies on other funding, such 
as the Coalition Support Fund, to cover the cost of partner countries' 
participation in NATO operations. 

The PfP Has Evolved in Several Key Ways Due to Changing Political 
Circumstances and Security Threats: 

The PfP program has evolved in four key ways since July 2001, when we 
last reported on the program. First, several PfP countries from 
Central and Eastern Europe have become members of NATO, resulting in a 
decline in the total number of PfP countries and the number of PfP 
countries aspiring to NATO membership. Second, NATO has developed 
additional mechanisms for engaging with PfP countries, allowing 
partners additional opportunities to tailor their participation in the 
PfP based upon their individual objectives and capacities. Third, the 
growing size and significance of the NATO operation in Afghanistan has 
increased NATO's emphasis on developing PfP countries' capabilities 
for participating in NATO military operations and the strategic 
importance of the Caucasus and Central Asian PfP countries to NATO, 
given their proximity to Afghanistan. Fourth, as NATO has taken steps 
to wind down its peacekeeping efforts in the Balkans, it has 
increasingly used the PfP to build cooperative relationships with 
countries in the region, marking a shift in its role in stabilizing 
that part of Europe. 

The Number of PfP Countries Aspiring to Membership Has Declined: 

Since 2001, several PfP countries from Central and Eastern Europe have 
become members of NATO, resulting in a decline in the total number of 
PfP countries and the number of PfP countries aspiring to NATO 
membership. While NATO has utilized the PfP for a variety of purposes, 
historically, NATO's primary focus for the program has been to assist 
interested countries in preparing to become NATO members. However, the 
PfP's function as a pathway to membership has diminished as the 
composition of countries in the program has changed. As figure 1 
shows, 12 former PfP countries have joined NATO since the PfP's 
establishment in 1994, including 9 countries since our previous report 
on the PfP in 2001. 

Figure 1: Former PfP Countries that Have Joined NATO: 

[Refer to PDF for image: illustrated world map] 

All NATO member prior to 1999 are indicated on the map. 

Joined in 1999: 
Czech Republic: 
Hungary: 
Poland: 

Joined in 2004: 
Bulgaria: 
Estonia: 
Latvia: 
Lithuania: 
Romania: 
Slovakia: 
Slovenia: 

Joined in 2009: 
Albania: 
Croatia: 

Source: GAO analysis of NATO data. 

[End of figure] 

While 9 countries have left the PfP since 2001, 5 new countries have 
also joined--Bosnia-Herzegovina, Malta,[Footnote 16] Montenegro, 
Serbia, and Tajikistan--bringing the total number of current PfP 
members to 22 (see figure 2). 

Figure 2: Comparison of PfP Countries in 2001 and 2010: 

[Refer to PDF for image: 2 illustrated maps] 

PIP Countries in 2001: 

Albania: (left after 2001); 
Armenia: 
Austria: 
Azerbaijan: 
Belarus: 
Bosnia-Herzegovina: 
Bulgaria: (left after 2001); 
Croatia: (left after 2001); 
Estonia: (left after 2001); 
Finland: 
Georgia: 
Ireland: 
Kazakhstan: 
Kyrgyz Republic: 
Latvia: (left after 2001); 
Lithuania: (left after 2001); 
Macedonia: 
Moldova: 
Romania: (left after 2001); 
Russia: 
Slovakia: (left after 2001); 
Slovenia: (left after 2001); 
Sweden: 
Switzerland: 
Turkmenistan: 
Ukraine: 
Uzbekistan: 

PIP Countries in 2010: 

Armenia: 
Austria: 
Azerbaijan: 
Belarus: 
Bosnia-Herzegovina: (joined after 2001); 
Finland: 
Georgia: 
Ireland: 
Kazakhstan: 
Kyrgyz Republic: 
Macedonia: 
Malta: (joined after 2001); 
Moldova: 
Montenegro: (joined after 2001); 
Russia: 
Serbia: (joined after 2001); 
Sweden: 
Switzerland: 
Tajikistan: (joined after 2001); 
Turkmenistan: 
Ukraine: 
Uzbekistan: 

Source: GAO analysis of NATO data. 

[End of figure] 

While the PfP has always included some countries that did not aspire 
to join NATO, NATO and U.S. officials with whom we spoke noted that 
the number of PfP countries seeking NATO membership has declined as 
the majority of those countries interested in joining have already 
done so. Of the 22 countries currently in the PfP, only 4 are actively 
pursuing NATO membership: Bosnia-Herzegovina, Georgia, Macedonia, and 
Montenegro. Ukraine had previously pursued NATO membership, but is no 
longer doing so, given the outcome of the country's February 2010 
presidential elections.[Footnote 17] 

Three of the countries aspiring to membership--Bosnia-Herzegovina, 
Montenegro, and Macedonia--have been offered a MAP, the final step 
that countries complete before NATO offers membership. Nine of 26 PfP 
countries had MAPs at the time of our previous report in 2001. During 
the MAP process, countries are required to undertake an intensive set 
of reforms that extend beyond their defense institutions, in order to 
bring the countries in line with NATO standards. Macedonia has had a 
MAP since 1999, and NATO has committed to offering it membership as 
soon as it resolves its dispute with Greece over its constitutional 
name.[Footnote 18] NATO has offered the other two countries a MAP only 
within the last year. NATO's Foreign Ministers offered Montenegro a 
MAP in December 2009. In April 2010, the NATO Foreign Ministers voted 
to offer Bosnia-Herzegovina a MAP; however, the Foreign Ministers 
decided that Bosnia-Herzegovina can only fully participate in MAP once 
it takes the necessary steps to transfer ownership of various 
immovable military assets (such as bases) from its two entity 
governments to the central government.[Footnote 19] 

Most current PfP countries have not indicated an interest in joining 
NATO, or, in the case of the five Central Asian PfP countries, are not 
eligible for NATO membership because of their geographic location 
outside of Europe.[Footnote 20] According to NATO, U.S., and PfP 
country officials, these countries participate in the PfP for a 
variety of reasons including the opportunity for dialogue with NATO on 
security issues, the ability to access NATO training and technical 
assistance to support reform efforts and build interoperability with 
NATO, the opportunity to contribute to NATO operations, and the desire 
to counter external pressures from other countries. 

NATO Has Created a Range of Partnership Mechanisms in which PfP 
Countries Can Participate Based upon Their Differing Needs: 

Since our report in 2001, NATO has created a variety of new 
partnership mechanisms and modified existing mechanisms to allow PfP 
countries to tailor their participation in the program based upon 
their unique capacities and objectives. With nine PfP countries having 
joined NATO since 2001, leaving fewer countries aspiring to 
membership, these mechanisms enable current PfP countries to structure 
their cooperation with NATO in ways other than the MAP process. The 22 
countries currently in the PfP differ significantly in terms of 
geographic location, military capabilities, political systems, and 
economic development, ranging from developed Western European 
democracies, such as Switzerland, to developing, authoritarian states 
in Central Asia, such as Turkmenistan. These mechanisms allow this 
diverse group of PfP countries the flexibility to shape their 
participation in the PfP based upon their unique needs (see table 1). 
Three of the mechanisms in table 1, the Individual Partnership 
Programme, the Planning and Review Process, and the Operational 
Capabilities Concept focus primarily on PfP countries' defense and 
military goals. The three other mechanisms in figure 3, the Individual 
Partnership Action Plan, the Annual National Programme, and the MAP, 
also allow PfP countries to establish defense and military goals. 
However, these mechanisms are broader in scope with countries also 
identifying political, legal, economic, security, and other goals they 
would like to work with NATO to achieve. 

Table 1: Partner Countries' Participation in Key PfP Mechanisms: 

Balkans: 

Partner country: Bosnia-Herzegovina; 
Defense and military goals: Individual Partnership Programme: [Check]; 
Defense and military goals: Planning and Review Process: [Check]; 
Defense and military goals: Operational Capabilities Concept: [Check]; 
Defense, military, and additional goals: Individual Partnership Action 
Plan: [Check]; 
Defense, military, and additional goals: Annual National Programme: 
[Empty]; 
Defense, military, and additional goals: Membership Action Plan: 
[Check]. 

Partner country: Macedonia; 
Defense and military goals: Individual Partnership Programme: [Check]; 
Defense and military goals: Planning and Review Process: [Check]; 
Defense and military goals: Operational Capabilities Concept: [Check]; 
Defense, military, and additional goals: Individual Partnership Action 
Plan: [Empty]; 
Defense, military, and additional goals: Annual National Programme: 
[Check]; 
Defense, military, and additional goals: Membership Action Plan: 
[Check]. 

Partner country: Montenegro; 
Defense and military goals: Individual Partnership Programme: [Check]; 
Defense and military goals: Planning and Review Process: [Check]; 
Defense and military goals: Operational Capabilities Concept: [Check]; 
Defense, military, and additional goals: Individual Partnership Action 
Plan: [Empty]; 
Defense, military, and additional goals: Annual National Programme: 
[Check]; 
Defense, military, and additional goals: Membership Action Plan: 
[Check]. 

Partner country: Serbia; 
Defense and military goals: Individual Partnership Programme: [Check]; 
Defense and military goals: Planning and Review Process: [Check]; 
Defense and military goals: Operational Capabilities Concept: [Empty]; 
Defense, military, and additional goals: Individual Partnership Action 
Plan: [Empty]; 
Defense, military, and additional goals: Annual National Programme: 
[Empty]; 
Defense, military, and additional goals: Membership Action Plan: 
[Empty]. 

Caucasus: 

Partner country: Armenia; 
Defense and military goals: Individual Partnership Programme: [Check]; 
Defense and military goals: Planning and Review Process: [Check]; 
Defense and military goals: Operational Capabilities Concept: [Check]; 
Defense, military, and additional goals: Individual Partnership Action 
Plan: [Check]; 
Defense, military, and additional goals: Annual National Programme: 
[Empty]; 
Defense, military, and additional goals: Membership Action Plan: 
[Empty]. 

Partner country: Azerbaijan; 
Defense and military goals: Individual Partnership Programme: [Check]; 
Defense and military goals: Planning and Review Process: [Check]; 
Defense and military goals: Operational Capabilities Concept: [Check]; 
Defense, military, and additional goals: Individual Partnership Action 
Plan: [Check]; 
Defense, military, and additional goals: Annual National Programme: 
[Empty]; 
Defense, military, and additional goals: Membership Action Plan: 
[Empty]. 

Partner country: Georgia; 
Defense and military goals: Individual Partnership Programme: [Check]; 
Defense and military goals: Planning and Review Process: [Check]; 
Defense and military goals: Operational Capabilities Concept: [Check]; 
Defense, military, and additional goals: Individual Partnership Action 
Plan: [Empty]; 
Defense, military, and additional goals: Annual National Programme: 
[Check]; 
Defense, military, and additional goals: Membership Action Plan: 
[Empty]. 

Eastern Europe: 

Partner country: Belarus; 
Defense and military goals: Individual Partnership Programme: [Check]; 
Defense and military goals: Planning and Review Process: [Check]; 
Defense and military goals: Operational Capabilities Concept: [Empty]; 
Defense, military, and additional goals: Individual Partnership Action 
Plan: [Empty]; 
Defense, military, and additional goals: Annual National Programme: 
[Empty]; 
Defense, military, and additional goals: Membership Action Plan: 
[Empty]. 

Partner country: Moldova; 
Defense and military goals: Individual Partnership Programme: [Check]; 
Defense and military goals: Planning and Review Process: [Check]; 
Defense and military goals: Operational Capabilities Concept: [Check]; 
Defense, military, and additional goals: Individual Partnership Action 
Plan: [Check]; 
Defense, military, and additional goals: Annual National Programme: 
[Empty]; 
Defense, military, and additional goals: Membership Action Plan: 
[Empty]. 

Partner country: Russia; 
Defense and military goals: Individual Partnership Programme: [Check]; 
Defense and military goals: Planning and Review Process: [Empty]; 
Defense and military goals: Operational Capabilities Concept: [Empty]; 
Defense, military, and additional goals: Individual Partnership Action 
Plan: [Empty]; 
Defense, military, and additional goals: Annual National Programme: 
[Empty]; 
Defense, military, and additional goals: Membership Action Plan: 
[Empty]. 

Partner country: Ukraine; 
Defense and military goals: Individual Partnership Programme: [Check]; 
Defense and military goals: Planning and Review Process: [Check]; 
Defense and military goals: Operational Capabilities Concept: [Check]; 
Defense, military, and additional goals: Individual Partnership Action 
Plan: [Empty]; 
Defense, military, and additional goals: Annual National Programme: 
[Check]; 
Defense, military, and additional goals: Membership Action Plan: 
[Empty]. 

Western Europe: 

Partner country: Austria; 
Defense and military goals: Individual Partnership Programme: [Check]; 
Defense and military goals: Planning and Review Process: [Check]; 
Defense and military goals: Operational Capabilities Concept: [Check]; 
Defense, military, and additional goals: Individual Partnership Action 
Plan: [Empty]; 
Defense, military, and additional goals: Annual National Programme: 
[Empty]; 
Defense, military, and additional goals: Membership Action Plan: 
[Empty]. 

Partner country: Finland; 
Defense and military goals: Individual Partnership Programme: [Check]; 
Defense and military goals: Planning and Review Process: [Check]; 
Defense and military goals: Operational Capabilities Concept: [Check]; 
Defense, military, and additional goals: Individual Partnership Action 
Plan: [Empty]; 
Defense, military, and additional goals: Annual National Programme: 
[Empty]; 
Defense, military, and additional goals: Membership Action Plan: 
[Empty]. 

Partner country: Ireland; 
Defense and military goals: Individual Partnership Programme: [Check]; 
Defense and military goals: Planning and Review Process: [Check]; 
Defense and military goals: Operational Capabilities Concept: [Empty]; 
Defense, military, and additional goals: Individual Partnership Action 
Plan: [Empty]; 
Defense, military, and additional goals: Annual National Programme: 
[Empty]; 
Defense, military, and additional goals: Membership Action Plan: 
[Empty]. 

Partner country: Malta; 
Defense and military goals: Individual Partnership Programme: [Check]; 
Defense and military goals: Planning and Review Process: [Empty]; 
Defense and military goals: Operational Capabilities Concept: [Empty]; 
Defense, military, and additional goals: Individual Partnership Action 
Plan: [Empty]; 
Defense, military, and additional goals: Annual National Programme: 
[Empty]; 
Defense, military, and additional goals: Membership Action Plan: 
[Empty]. 

Partner country: Sweden; 
Defense and military goals: Individual Partnership Programme: [Check]; 
Defense and military goals: Planning and Review Process: [Check]; 
Defense and military goals: Operational Capabilities Concept: [Check]; 
Defense, military, and additional goals: Individual Partnership Action 
Plan: [Empty]; 
Defense, military, and additional goals: Annual National Programme: 
[Empty]; 
Defense, military, and additional goals: Membership Action Plan: 
[Empty]. 

Partner country: Switzerland; 
Defense and military goals: Individual Partnership Programme: [Check]; 
Defense and military goals: Planning and Review Process: [Check]; 
Defense and military goals: Operational Capabilities Concept: [Check]; 
Defense, military, and additional goals: Individual Partnership Action 
Plan: [Empty]; 
Defense, military, and additional goals: Annual National Programme: 
[Empty]; 
Defense, military, and additional goals: Membership Action Plan: 
[Empty]. 

Central Asia: 

Partner country: Kazakhstan; 
Defense and military goals: Individual Partnership Programme: [Check]; 
Defense and military goals: Planning and Review Process: [Check]; 
Defense and military goals: Operational Capabilities Concept: [Check]; 
Defense, military, and additional goals: Individual Partnership Action 
Plan: [Check]; 
Defense, military, and additional goals: Annual National Programme: 
[Empty]; 
Defense, military, and additional goals: Membership Action Plan: 
[Empty]. 

Partner country: Kyrgyz Republic; 
Defense and military goals: Individual Partnership Programme: [Check]; 
Defense and military goals: Planning and Review Process: [Check]; 
Defense and military goals: Operational Capabilities Concept: [Empty]; 
Defense, military, and additional goals: Individual Partnership Action 
Plan: [Empty]; 
Defense, military, and additional goals: Annual National Programme: 
[Empty]; 
Defense, military, and additional goals: Membership Action Plan: 
[Empty]. 

Partner country: Tajikistan; 
Defense and military goals: Individual Partnership Programme: [Check]; 
Defense and military goals: Planning and Review Process: [Empty]; 
Defense and military goals: Operational Capabilities Concept: [Empty]; 
Defense, military, and additional goals: Individual Partnership Action 
Plan: [Empty]; 
Defense, military, and additional goals: Annual National Programme: 
[Empty]; 
Defense, military, and additional goals: Membership Action Plan: 
[Empty]. 

Partner country: Turkmenistan; 
Defense and military goals: Individual Partnership Programme: [Check]; 
Defense and military goals: Planning and Review Process: [Empty]; 
Defense and military goals: Operational Capabilities Concept: [Empty]; 
Defense, military, and additional goals: Individual Partnership Action 
Plan: [Empty]; 
Defense, military, and additional goals: Annual National Programme: 
[Empty]; 
Defense, military, and additional goals: Membership Action Plan: 
[Empty]. 

Partner country: Uzbekistan; 
Defense and military goals: Individual Partnership Programme: [Check]; 
Defense and military goals: Planning and Review Process: [Check]; 
Defense and military goals: Operational Capabilities Concept: [Empty]; 
Defense, military, and additional goals: Individual Partnership Action 
Plan: [Empty]; 
Defense, military, and additional goals: Annual National Programme: 
[Empty]; 
Defense, military, and additional goals: Membership Action Plan: 
[Empty]. 

Partner country: Total; 
Defense and military goals: Individual Partnership Programme: 22; 
Defense and military goals: Planning and Review Process: 18; 
Defense and military goals: Operational Capabilities Concept: 13; 
Defense, military, and additional goals: Individual Partnership Action 
Plan: 5; 
Defense, military, and additional goals: Annual National Programme: 4; 
Defense, military, and additional goals: Membership Action Plan: 3. 

[End of table] 

Source: GAO analysis of NATO data. 

* Individual Partnership Programme. Since NATO established the PfP 
program in 1994, all participating countries prepare, at a minimum, 
Individual Partnership Programme documents. Individual Partnership 
Programmes identify each country's national policy for participating 
in the PfP, the forces and assets they are willing to make available 
for PfP activities, and the areas in which they would like to pursue 
cooperation with NATO. In developing Individual Partnership 
Programmes, countries select partnership activities and events in 
which they would like to participate. To improve this process, NATO 
developed the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Work Plan (EAPWP) in 2004. The 
EAPWP, which is developed for a 2-year period, lists activities and 
events offered by NATO, as well as by individual NATO members and 
other PfP countries. In the 2010-2011 EAPWP, there are over 1,200 
activities sorted into 34 areas of cooperation (for more details about 
these areas of cooperation, see appendix IV). 

* Planning and Review Process. NATO established the Planning and 
Review Process in 1994, and modeled it on NATO's own force planning 
system. The Planning and Review Process allows PfP countries to work 
more closely with NATO to enhance their interoperability with NATO 
forces and strengthen their defense institutions. The 18 countries 
participating in the Planning and Review Process work with NATO to 
assess their defense capabilities, identify potential contributions to 
NATO exercises and operations, and select specific goals for 
developing their defense capabilities and building interoperability 
(see appendix V for further information on partnership goals 
participating countries have selected through the Planning and Review 
Process). NATO has made modifications to the Planning and Review 
Process over time. For instance, in 2004, NATO modified the Planning 
and Review Process' goals to further support defense reform, defense 
institution building, and the fight against terrorism. 

* Operational Capabilities Concept. In 2004, NATO introduced the 
current version of the Operational Capabilities Concept to assist PfP 
countries in improving their ability to work effectively with NATO 
forces during military operations. Thirteen countries participate in 
the Operational Capabilities Concept. Through this process, countries 
identify specific military units that they want to develop to NATO 
standards. NATO then evaluates and certifies these units as ready to 
participate in NATO operations. 

* Individual Partnership Action Plan. NATO created the Individual 
Partnership Action Plan mechanism in 2002 to allow PfP countries to 
develop deeper and more individualized cooperation with NATO than the 
Individual Partnership Programme, without having to commit to pursuing 
NATO membership. The Individual Partnership Action Plan process is a 2-
year cycle in which participating partners identify specific goals for 
cooperation with NATO related to political, economic, and other 
reforms in addition to their defense and military goals. As part of 
the Individual Partnership Action Plan process, NATO also conducts 
assessments of the progress participating partners are making toward 
meeting these goals. Of the five countries currently with Individual 
Partnership Action Plans, only Bosnia-Herzegovina aspires to become a 
NATO member. 

* Annual National Programme and MAP. Annual National Programmes are 
associated with countries aspiring to become NATO members. The Annual 
National Programme process is similar to that for the Individual 
Partnership Action Plan and they address similar types of issues; 
however, Annual National Programmes are updated every year and NATO 
expects participating countries to establish more ambitious reform 
objectives that will bring their institutions in line with NATO 
standards. Additionally, NATO assesses participating countries' 
progress in achieving reform objectives annually instead of biennially 
and places greater scrutiny on the extent and pace of progress. In the 
past, only countries in the MAP process completed Annual National 
Programmes. However, in 2008, NATO offered Georgia and Ukraine Annual 
National Programmes, but not MAPs, to acknowledge their membership 
aspirations, reward them for the progress they had already 
demonstrated in undertaking reforms, and encourage them to set goals 
and undertake additional reforms consistent with NATO standards. 
[Footnote 21] When NATO's Foreign Ministers voted to offer Bosnia-
Herzegovina a MAP in April 2010, they decided that NATO would not 
accept Bosnia-Herzegovina's first Annual National Programme until it 
had taken the necessary steps to transfer ownership of its immovable 
military assets from its two entity governments to the central 
government.[Footnote 22] 

NATO Has Placed an Increased Emphasis on Obtaining Support from PfP 
Countries for Its Operation in Afghanistan: 

The growing size and significance of the NATO operation in Afghanistan 
has increased both NATO's emphasis on developing PfP countries' 
capabilities for participating in NATO military operations and the 
strategic importance of the Caucasus and Central Asian PfP countries 
to NATO, given their proximity to Afghanistan. In recent years, NATO 
has made the operation in Afghanistan its top priority and ISAF has 
grown from 5,000 to approximately 120,000 troops since NATO assumed 
command of the force in August 2003. Consequently, NATO has placed an 
increased emphasis on obtaining support from PfP countries for this 
operation. This focus has been highlighted in NATO summit statements. 
For instance, at their 2004 Istanbul Summit, NATO Heads of State 
declared their intention to provide partners with increased 
opportunities to enhance their contributions to NATO-led operations, 
and to help transform their defenses in keeping with NATO's own 
evolving operational roles and capabilities. At their 2008 Bucharest 
Summit, NATO Heads of State affirmed the high value they place on 
partners' contributions to NATO operations and stated they would 
continue to strive to increase interoperability between NATO and 
partner forces. The importance of PfP countries to NATO's efforts in 
Afghanistan has also been emphasized by various NATO and NATO member 
country officials. For instance, during a 2010 speech on NATO's 
partnerships, the U.S. Ambassador to NATO stated that partner 
assistance to NATO's operation in Afghanistan is the best example of 
what partnerships can accomplish. 

As shown in figure 3, a range of PfP countries have contributed troops 
for ISAF. NATO reports that 11 PfP countries had almost 2,000 troops 
deployed in Afghanistan, as of August 2010. None of the Central Asian 
countries, or Russia, Belarus, Moldova, and Malta contribute troops to 
ISAF. Eight additional NATO partner countries that are not in the PfP 
program also contribute troops to ISAF, including Australia, which 
contributes approximately 1,450 troops. 

Figure 3: Countries' Troop Contributions to NATO's Operation in 
Afghanistan (ISAF) as of August 2010: 

[Refer to PDF for image: list; 2 horizontal bar graphs; 1 pie-chart] 

Troop contributions: NATO member countries: 

United States: 78,430; 
United Kingdom: 9,500; 
Germany: 4,590; 
France: 3,750; 
Italy: 3,400; 
Canada: 2,830; 
Poland: 2,630; 
Romania: 1,750; 
Turkey: 1,740; 
Spain: 1,555; 
Denmark: 730; 
Belgium: 575; 
Bulgaria: 540; 
Czech Republic: 500; 
Norway: 500; 
Netherlands: 380; 
Hungary: 360; 
Slovakia: 300; 
Albania: 295; 
Croatia: 295; 
Portugal: 250; 
Lithuania: 245; 
Latvia: 170; 
Estonia: 160; 
Greece: 75; 
Slovenia: 70; 
Luxembourg: 9. 
Iceland: 5. 

Troop contributions: PIP Countries: 

Georgia: 925; 
Sweden: 530; 
Macedonia: 240; 
Azerbaijan: 90; 
Finland: 80; 
Armenia: 40; 
Montenegro: 30; 
Ukraine: 15; 
Bosnia-Herzegovina: 10; 
Ireland: 6; 
Austria: 3. 

Troop contributions: Other Countries: 

Australia: 1,455; 
Republic of Korea: 270; 
New Zealand: 205; 
Mongolia: 195; 
Malaysia: 40; 
Singapore: 30; 
United Arab Emirates: 15; 
Jordan: 6. 

Total troop contributions to ISAF: 119,819: 
NATO member countries: 115,634 (96.51%); 
PIP countries: 1,969 (1.64%); 
Other countries: 2,216 (1.85%). 

Source: GAO analysis of NATO data; www.CIA.gov (flag). 

Note: These numbers are approximates and, according to NATO, change on 
a regular basis. 

[End of figure] 

Some PfP countries that do not provide troop contributions to NATO 
operations offer other types of support, such as overflight access, 
land access, or basing rights. Four of the five Central Asian PfP 
countries provide logistic and/or host nation support to ISAF. For 
instance, in May 2009, Uzbekistan signed an agreement with NATO that 
allowed for the rail transit of nonmilitary goods through its 
territory to Afghanistan to support NATO operations. Turkmenistan is 
the only Central Asian country that has not provided such support. In 
addition to contributing troops to ISAF, two Caucasus countries, 
Georgia and Azerbaijan, also provide logistic support, including 
allowing overflight rights and the rail transit of nonmilitary goods. 
NATO and U.S. officials with whom we met stated that this type of 
assistance from the Caucasus and Central Asian PfP countries is 
critical to NATO's execution of the war in Afghanistan. Additionally, 
NATO has noted that the relationships developed through the PfP have 
laid the basis for many of these agreements. 

In addition to ISAF, NATO has looked to partners to provide troop 
contributions to KFOR. As figure 4 shows, six PfP countries 
contributed troops to NATO's operation in Kosovo, as of February 2010. 
These six countries include five Western European partners and 
Ukraine. Morocco, an MD partner, also contributed 213 troops to KFOR, 
as of February 2010. 

Figure 4: Countries' Troop Contributions to NATO's Operation in Kosovo 
(KFOR) as of February 2010: 

[Refer to PDF for image: list; 2 horizontal bar graphs; 1 pie-chart] 

Troop contributions: NATO member countries: 

Germany: 1,507; 
United States: 1,480; 
Italy: 1,409; 
France: 807; 
Turkey: 465; 
Slovenia: 387; 
Greece: 366; 
Czech Republic: 321; 
Portugal: 279; 
Hungary: 241; 
Poland: 227; 
Denmark: 188; 
Slovakia: 146; 
Romania: 145; 
Belgium: 99; 
Luxembourg: 29; 
Croatia: 20; 
Bulgaria: 10; 
Netherlands: 10; 
Norway: 6; 
Canada: 5; 
United Kingdom: 5; 
Spain: 3; 
Albania: 2; 
Estonia: 1. 

Troop contributions: PIP Countries: 

Austria: 434; 
Sweden: 253; 
Finland: 242; 
Ireland: 187; 
Switzerland: 206; 
Ukraine: 187. 

Troop contributions: Other Countries: 

Morocco: 213. 

Total troop contributions to NATO’s Operation in Kosovo (KFOR): 9,925 
(as of February 2010): 
NATO member countries: 8,158 (82.2%); 
PIP countries: 1,554 (15.7%); 
Other countries: 213 (2.1%). 

Source: GAO analysis of NATO data; www.CIA.gov (flag). 

Note: These numbers are approximates and, according to NATO, change on 
a regular basis. 

[End of figure] 

NATO has noted that partners' contributions to ISAF and KFOR have 
helped ease the burden on its members from conducting multiple 
operations. 

NATO Has Utilized the PfP to Increase Stability in the Balkans as NATO 
Forces Have Drawn Down: 

A fourth key way the PfP has evolved since our previous report on the 
PfP centers on NATO's efforts in the Balkans.[Footnote 23] As figure 5 
shows, NATO has established several peacekeeping missions in the 
Balkans since the mid-1990s. However, as NATO has taken steps to wind 
down its peacekeeping efforts in the Balkans, it has increasingly used 
the PfP to build cooperative relationships with countries in the 
region, marking a shift in its role in stabilizing that part of 
Europe. NATO has relied on the promise of these cooperative 
relationships and eventual NATO membership to encourage reforms in the 
Balkan countries designed to reduce the risk of future violence. 

Figure 5: Timeline of Key NATO Events in the Balkans: 

[Refer to PDF for image: timeline] 

NATO Military and Peacekeeping Operations: 

April 1992: Civil war begins in Bosnia-Herzegovina. 

August 1995: NATO begins airstrikes in Bosnia-Herzegovina. 

December 1995: Dayton Peace Agreement is signed ending the conflict in 
Bosnia-Herzegovina. 

December 1995: NATO-led Implementation Force (IFOR) is deployed in 
Bosnia-Herzegovina. 

December 1996: IFOR transitions to the NATO-led Stabilization Force 
(SFOR). 

March 1999: NATO launches air campaign in Kosovo. 

June 1999: NATO-led Kosovo Force (KFOR) is deployed. 

August 2001: NATO launches the first of three peacekeeping operations 
in Macedonia. 

March 2003: NATO’s last peacekeeping operation in Macedonia ends. 

December 2004: SFOR concludes and the European Union assumes 
peacekeeping responsibilities in Bosnia-Herzegovina. 

NATO Cooperative Efforts with the Balkans Countries: 

February 1994: Albania joins the PfP. 

November 1995: Macedonia joins the PfP. 

April 1999: Albania and Macedonia are offered MAPs. 

May 2000: Croatia joins the PfP. 

May 2002: Croatia offered a MAP. 

December 2006: Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro, and Serbia join the PfP. 

April 2009: Albania and Croatia join NATO. 

December 2009: Montenegro offered a MAP. 

April 2010: Bosnia-Herzegovina offered a MAP conditional on the 
resolution of certain issues. 

Source: GAO presentation of NATO data. 

[End of figure] 

Since our report in 2001, NATO has continued to invite additional 
countries in the Balkans to participate in the PfP. As of 2010, NATO 
has invited all the Balkan countries to participate in the PfP, with 
the exception of the newly independent Kosovo.[Footnote 24] Before 
inviting Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro, and Serbia to join the PfP in 
2006, NATO placed various requirements on the three countries. For 
instance, NATO required the countries to cooperate fully with the 
International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. 
Additionally, NATO required that Bosnia-Herzegovina eliminate its two 
entities' parallel defense structures and develop a unified command 
and control structure. 

Montenegro and Bosnia-Herzegovina have progressed in their membership 
aspirations since joining the PfP in 2006. Montenegro joined the MAP 
process in December 2009 and NATO invited Bosnia-Herzegovina to do so 
in April 2010; however, it must resolve the issue of transferring its 
immovable defense property, such as military bases, to state control 
before it can fully participate. The two countries have also 
cooperated with NATO on various reforms. For instance, a 
representative from Montenegro's delegation to NATO noted that his 
country has worked closely with NATO to complete a Strategic Defense 
Review and has made significant progress in tailoring the size and 
composition of its military to its actual needs. A representative from 
Bosnia-Herzegovina's delegation to NATO stated that his country has 
made strides in ensuring civilian control over the military through 
Bosnia-Herzegovina's participation in the PfP. A NATO official based 
in Sarajevo also noted that Bosnia-Herzegovina has almost completed 
the process of unifying its military under state control. While Serbia 
has not engaged with NATO to the same extent as Bosnia-Herzegovina or 
Montenegro, it has also taken steps to further its participation in 
the PfP. For instance, it joined the Planning and Review Process in 
2007. Additionally, NATO and Serbia created a Serbia-NATO Defense 
Reform Group in 2006 to support Serbia's efforts to reform and 
modernize its military. 

Two Balkan countries--Albania and Croatia--became NATO members in 
April 2009. A year earlier at NATO's Bucharest summit, the heads of 
state from NATO countries noted that the two countries had 
demonstrated their commitment to the promotion of collective security 
among the NATO countries and had embraced NATO's shared values. The 
President's Report to Congress on the Future of NATO Enlargement in 
2009 highlighted the role the PfP had played in preparing the two 
countries to assume the responsibilities of membership. For instance, 
the report noted that the PfP had assisted the two countries in making 
significant progress in reforming their militaries and developing 
forces that were interoperable with NATO. In addition, NATO has 
determined that Macedonia has also successfully met the requirements 
for membership and will be admitted into NATO once it has resolved its 
dispute with Greece over its name. 

NATO Is Considering Ways to Strengthen Its Partnerships as Part of the 
Development of Its New Strategic Concept: 

NATO's new Strategic Concept is expected to highlight the importance 
of the PfP and other NATO partnerships and discuss ways to strengthen 
these partnerships further. Specifically, NATO is debating how to (1) 
strengthen its partnerships with countries outside of the PfP, (2) 
enhance routine and crisis consultations with PfP countries on 
security issues, (3) more effectively engage with PfP countries, such 
as those in Central Asia, that are not seeking membership, and (4) 
balance PfP countries' aspirations for membership with Russian 
concerns about NATO expansion. 

NATO Is Considering How to Strengthen Partnerships with Countries 
outside the PfP: 

NATO's new Strategic Concept[Footnote 25] is expected to highlight the 
importance of the PfP and NATO's other partnerships, given the 
widespread acknowledgment among NATO members that partnerships are 
critical to NATO's ability to address many of the security challenges 
it faces, including terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass 
destruction.[Footnote 26] The Group of Experts' May 2010 report to 
NATO's Secretary General highlighted the importance of partnerships, 
citing the strengthening of partnerships as one of NATO's four core 
tasks for the next 10 years.[Footnote 27] As figure 6 shows, NATO's 
partnerships extend beyond the PfP and include countries from around 
the world that fall into various partnership groupings including the 
MD, the ICI, and Partners across the Globe. 

Figure 6: Map of Countries Participating in NATO's Partnership 
Programs: 

[Refer to PDF for image: illustrated world map] 

Mediterranean Dialogue countries: 
Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Mauritania, Morocco, and Tunisia. 

Istanbul Cooperation Initiative countries: 
Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, and United Arab Emirates. 

Partnership for Peace countries: 
Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Finland, 
Georgia, Ireland, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Macedonia, Malta, 
Moldova, Montenegro, Russia, Serbia, Sweden, Switzerland, Tajikistan, 
Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan. 

Partners Across the Globe countries: 
Australia, Japan, Republic of Korea, and New Zealand. 

NATO Member countries: 
Albania, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, 
Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, 
Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, 
Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Turkey, United Kingdom, and United States. 

Source: GAO presentation of NATO data. 

[End of figure] 

Some NATO members, including the United States, have advocated for 
NATO to pursue a more global partnership agenda. According to a U.S. 
mission to NATO official, the United States had previously proposed 
eliminating the distinctions between NATO's various partnership 
programs and creating one consolidated, global partnership program. 
Some NATO stakeholders have argued that NATO is an organization facing 
global security threats and that by strengthening partnerships with 
key countries around the world, it will allow NATO to better draw upon 
these partnerships as such threats arise. However, some NATO members, 
such as France and Germany, have been reluctant to make these 
partnerships a key focus for NATO, believing that it pushes NATO away 
from its traditional focus on Europe. These NATO members believe that 
NATO should continue to place the PfP above its other partnership 
efforts, given the PfP countries' geographic proximity to NATO 
territory. Various NATO stakeholders have also raised concerns that if 
NATO increases its engagement with partners outside of the PfP it will 
result in declining NATO resources for PfP countries, given NATO's 
expected budget shortfalls in upcoming years. 

As the scope of NATO's partnerships is debated, NATO is also 
considering steps to work more effectively with its partners in the MD 
and the ICI. The Group of Experts noted in its report that the 
accomplishments of the MD and ICI programs have been relatively modest 
to date. Accordingly, various NATO stakeholders have recommended that 
NATO focus its efforts on areas of mutual concern such as 
nonproliferation, terrorism, missile defense, and Iran. To this end, 
the Group of Experts recommends that NATO develop a statement of 
shared interests with the two partnerships to further cooperation in 
such areas. Additionally, NATO's Allied Command Transformation 
recommends that NATO should seek to review and reenergize its 
relationships with partners in the two programs in order to increase 
the scope and frequency of both its formal and informal engagements 
with these partners. One option NATO is considering is to increase MD 
and ICI countries' access to partnership mechanisms that are currently 
only available to PfP countries. For example, these countries do not 
have access to all of the activities in the EAPWP. They are also not 
entitled to participate in the Planning and Review Process or develop 
Individual Partnership Action Plans. 

Unlike the MD and ICI, NATO has not developed a formal partnership 
structure for cooperation and dialogue with its Partners across the 
Globe; however, it is assessing ways to deepen its partnership with 
these countries. Several of these partners are key contributors to 
NATO's operation in Afghanistan. For example, Australia has 
contributed more troops than many NATO members. Japan, while not 
contributing troops, has funded billions of dollars in reconstruction 
projects. Both NATO's Allied Command Transformation and the Group of 
Experts have recommended that NATO provide mechanisms to enable global 
partners to have a meaningful role in shaping strategy and decisions 
on missions to which they contribute. U.S. officials with whom we 
spoke noted that these countries are not seeking formalized 
partnerships with NATO, but are seeking such mechanisms to allow for 
better coordination with NATO on joint efforts. 

NATO Is Seeking to Strengthen Routine and Crisis Consultations with 
PfP Countries: 

NATO stakeholders have cited the need for NATO to strengthen its 
existing commitments to PfP countries to hold consultations with those 
countries facing security threats. The PfP Framework Document states 
that, "NATO will consult with any active participant in the 
Partnership if that Partner perceives a direct threat to its 
territorial integrity, political independence, or security."[Footnote 
28] Some NATO stakeholders view NATO's failure to hold such 
consultations with Georgia during the August 2008 Russia-Georgia war 
as evidence that NATO's current commitments to hold consultations with 
PfP countries in such situations are insufficient. In recognition of 
such concerns, the Group of Experts recommended that NATO strengthen 
crisis consultations, as provided for in the PfP Framework Document. 
However, a U.S. official with whom we spoke noted that some NATO 
members are reluctant to strengthen such commitments due to concerns 
that it may involve NATO in conflicts that are not in NATO's best 
interests or create unrealistic expectations among PfP countries 
regarding potential NATO assistance. 

Revitalizing existing NATO-PfP councils may also be needed to improve 
ongoing dialogue between NATO and the PfP countries. The Euro-Atlantic 
Partnership Council (EAPC) is the forum in which all NATO members and 
PfP countries come together to discuss relevant political and security 
issues. NATO and the PfP countries are currently considering various 
proposals to make the EAPC more dynamic and relevant, including 
linking the agenda more closely with that of the North Atlantic 
Council and focusing more on practical issues, such as energy 
security, where there is opportunity for mutual cooperation. Some NATO 
stakeholders with whom we met noted that the diversity of countries in 
the PfP has made substantive and frank discussion at the EAPC 
challenging, because some PfP countries are reluctant to discuss their 
security concerns, given other countries that attend. Additionally, 
stakeholders noted that because the EAPC is not a decision-making 
body, its meetings seldom result in specific outcomes. 

Some NATO stakeholders have also cited the need for NATO to revitalize 
its commitment to conduct routine and crisis consultations with the 
priority countries of Russia, Ukraine, and Georgia through existing 
bilateral councils or commissions. For instance, NATO leaders noted at 
their 2009 summit that the NATO-Russia Council has not always been 
adequately utilized and recommended that NATO use the Council to focus 
on areas where there are opportunities for cooperation, such as 
nonproliferation, arms control, and counterterrorism. The Group of 
Experts recommended that NATO regularly make use of the NATO-Ukraine 
and NATO-Georgia Commissions to discuss mutual security concerns and 
foster practical cooperation in areas such as defense reform. Other 
NATO stakeholders have called for NATO to ensure that it honors its 
commitments to Ukraine and Georgia to, through the two commissions, 
provide the countries with additional assistance in implementing 
political and defense reforms. 

NATO Is Seeking More Effective Engagement with PfP Countries Not 
Aspiring to NATO Membership: 

NATO is also considering how it might increase the effectiveness of 
its efforts to encourage reforms in PfP countries that are not 
aspiring to NATO membership. In particular, NATO has cited Central 
Asia, which has no PfP countries aspiring to membership, as a key area 
of focus for the PfP since 2004; however, it has struggled to 
effectively engage with the five countries in the region. For 
instance, only one of the five countries in the region, Kazakhstan, 
has elected to develop an Individual Partnership Action Plan. NATO has 
identified various challenges in engaging these partners, including 
their reluctance to have their defense ministries scrutinized, their 
limited financial resources and personnel available for participation 
in NATO activities, their close relationship with Russia, and their 
distance from Europe. 

To enhance engagement with Central Asian countries, NATO is seeking 
better coordination among members' bilateral assistance programs. One 
initiative centers on NATO's clearinghouse mechanisms. These 
clearinghouses are designed to bring together PfP country 
representatives and security cooperation officials from NATO 
countries. Through the clearinghouses, partners can discuss their 
needs and then NATO members are able to volunteer to provide 
assistance to meet those needs. NATO has already established such 
clearinghouses for some PfP countries, such as those in the Caucasus, 
and is considering establishing one for Central Asia. A NATO official 
noted that NATO should do a better job of leveraging the types of 
assistance that individual members can provide that NATO itself 
cannot, such as the provision of equipment. As an example, the 
official noted that a Central Asian country has requested radar 
equipment to support border security requirements. The official noted 
that if a NATO member would commit to providing this equipment, NATO 
could use this as an opportunity to encourage the country to take 
certain actions, including providing additional support for its 
operation in Afghanistan. As part of its strategy, NATO intends to 
place a liaison officer in Central Asia to assist in the coordination 
of NATO members' bilateral assistance and to increase communication 
between NATO and Central Asian government officials. 

NATO Is Debating How to Support PfP Countries' Membership Aspirations, 
while Not Escalating Tensions with Russia: 

Various NATO stakeholders have stated that NATO needs to maintain a 
credible "Open Door Policy" that supports the aspirations of those PfP 
countries that are seeking NATO membership. Some NATO members and PfP 
countries have expressed concern that NATO has allowed Russia undue 
influence in enlargement decisions, particularly for Georgia. In 
February 2010, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stated that 
NATO membership should be a process between the country and NATO, with 
no outside party being able to adversely influence the outcome. In 
addition, the Group of Experts report emphasized the need for a strong 
Open Door policy stating that NATO should ensure consistency with 
Article 10 of the North Atlantic Treaty and its principles for 
enlargement by allowing states interested in joining NATO to move 
forward as they fulfill their requirements for membership. Certain 
NATO members have advocated for a slower approach to the prospective 
membership of some PfP countries to avoid antagonizing Russia. At 
NATO's January 2010 Strategic Concept seminar, some participants 
stated that Russian concerns about enlargement should be taken into 
account. Additionally, some stakeholders have noted that, while NATO 
should reaffirm its commitment to maintain an open door policy, a slow 
path to membership for Georgia, would help ease tensions with Russia 
and provide greater possibilities for NATO-Russia cooperation. 

Although Eligible Countries and the Focus of the WIF Program Have 
Changed, DOD Has Not Evaluated the Program since 2001: 

As a result of the changing composition of countries in the PfP 
program, total WIF funding dropped significantly in 2006, and the 
majority of funds are no longer distributed to countries aspiring to 
join NATO. DOD also established the DIB program in 2006 as a key focus 
of the WIF program; however, this relatively new program has faced 
challenges with its implementation. DOD last formally evaluated the 
WIF program in 2001 before key changes to both the WIF and PfP 
programs were implemented. 

Amount and Distribution of WIF Funding Reflect Changing Composition of 
Countries in PfP Program: 

Since 1999, 12 PfP countries have become NATO members. As a result, 
fewer PfP countries remain eligible for WIF funding.[Footnote 29] In 
2001, when we last reported on the WIF program, 21 countries were 
eligible for WIF funding; in 2010, 16 are eligible.[Footnote 30] 
According to DOD officials, the decline in the number of WIF-eligible 
countries contributed to the decreases in WIF budgets. From fiscal 
years 1996 through 2005, total annual WIF funding averaged about $43 
million. From fiscal years 2006 through 2010, annual WIF funding has 
averaged about $29 million.[Footnote 31] 

The distribution of WIF funding among eligible PfP countries also has 
changed since the initial years of the program. In our 2001 report on 
the WIF program, we found that WIF funding was primarily targeted to 
countries aspiring to become members of NATO.[Footnote 32] From 1994 
through 2000, about 70 percent of WIF funding was distributed to 12 
aspiring countries, according to the 2001 report. With the exception 
of Macedonia, these countries became NATO members and lost WIF 
funding. As of September 2010, only four countries aspire to join 
NATO. As a result, as table 2 shows, the fiscal year 2010 WIF budget 
only distributes about 20 percent of its funding to aspiring 
countries.[Footnote 33] 

Table 2: WIF Funding for Countries Seeking NATO Membership, Fiscal 
Year 2010: 

Country: Macedonia; 
Fiscal year 2010 budget: $1,810,821; 
Percentage of total: 5%. 

Country: Montenegro; 
Fiscal year 2010 budget: $1,467,736; 
Percentage of total: 4%. 

Country: Bosnia-Herzegovina; 
Fiscal year 2010 budget: $1,566,996; 
Percentage of total: 4%. 

Country: Georgia; 
Fiscal year 2010 budget: $2,509,101; 
Percentage of total: 7%. 

Country: Subtotal; 
Fiscal year 2010 budget: $7,354,654; 
Percentage of total: 21%. 

Country: Total WIF budget; 
Fiscal year 2010 budget: $34,876,878. 

Source: GAO analysis of DOD data. 

Note: The total of $34,876,878 reflects the sum of approved activities 
in the fiscal year 2010 WIF budget. This amount exceeds the total 
fiscal year 2010 WIF budget of $29,789,000 to allow program 
implementers flexibility to reprogram funding when events are 
canceled. The breakout of funding by country was only available for 
the approved activities. 

[End of table] 

In addition, a significant share of the fiscal year 2010 WIF budget-- 
about 35 percent--was devoted to supporting the participation of 
eligible PfP countries in bilateral or multilateral military 
exercises.[Footnote 34] WIF funding was budgeted to support the 
participation of PfP countries in a number of exercises in fiscal year 
2010 ranging from 10 for Georgia to 2 for Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. 
DOD views these exercises, which are sponsored by the United States, 
NATO, or other countries, as a key means of building participating 
countries' military capability and interoperability with U.S. and NATO 
forces. According to DOD officials, WIF provides a key source of 
funding to enable PfP developing countries to participate in these 
exercises. 

According to DOD officials, exercises are occasionally canceled due to 
political factors in host countries. In fiscal year 2009, four 
exercises were canceled, according to DOD. For example, a U.S.- 
sponsored multilateral exercise, known as Sea Breeze, hosted by 
Ukraine was canceled in 2009 when the Ukrainian Parliament failed to 
authorize foreign troops to enter the country to participate.[Footnote 
35] Consequently, the actual number of exercises WIF supports and 
amount of WIF funding devoted to exercises are likely to be lower than 
the budget reflects. 

DIB Program is Key Focus of WIF Program, but Has Faced Implementation 
Challenges: 

DOD established the DIB program in 2006 as a key focus of the WIF 
program. The DIB program, which received about 20 percent of the 
fiscal year 2010 WIF budget, is designed to help eligible PfP 
countries develop accountable, professional, and transparent defense 
establishments. The DIB program is also intended to complement NATO's 
Partnership Action Plan on Defense Institution Building, which NATO 
established with similar objectives in 2004. 

Approved activities in the fiscal year 2010 budget for the DIB program 
included assisting with strategic defense reviews; developing defense 
planning, budgeting, and resource management systems; developing 
professional military education programs; improving human resource 
management systems; and preparing countries to contribute to 
peacekeeping operations.[Footnote 36] In its initial years, the DIB 
program conducted surveys of PfP countries' defense institutions and 
developed "roadmaps" to outline key steps the countries needed to take 
to achieve required reforms. According to DOD, the program has 
surveyed 11 PfP countries. 

The DIB program has faced a variety of challenges in its first few 
years, which have contributed to frequent cancellations of DIB- 
sponsored activities. In fiscal year 2009, the DIB program executed 
only about $650,000 in originally approved activities in its $6.4 
million budget.[Footnote 37] We also found that the DIB program did 
not execute any of its five originally approved activities in the 
fiscal year 2010 budget for Georgia and only one of seven for Bosnia- 
Herzegovina. DOD officials attributed the lack of execution to the 
existence of similar assistance provided through FMF-funded contracts 
in some countries and limited interest in DIB program activities in 
others. 

First, DOD officials told us that Bosnia-Herzegovina and Georgia were 
already receiving similar assistance funded through the FMF program. 
For example, the DIB program included activities in its fiscal year 
2010 budget to help Bosnia-Herzegovina implement its strategic defense 
review and create a human resource management system. However, FMF- 
funded advisors were already embedded in Bosnia-Herzegovina's Ministry 
of Defense and Joint Staff assisting with these efforts. In Georgia, 
both FMF and DIB funding were directed to help Georgia with its 
"defense transformation," according to DOD documents. FMF funding 
provided $3.8 million in fiscal year 2009 and $2.5 million in fiscal 
year 2010 for a contract that provides advice and assistance to 
Georgia's Ministry of Defense and Air Force for defense sector 
transformation, according to DOD. This included the building of 
institutions and systems, the development of doctrine and curricula, 
the conduct of a National Security Review, and the training of 
Ministry of Defense and Air Force personnel to improve professionalism 
and NATO interoperability. At the same time, the DIB program included 
$750,000 for defense transformation in its fiscal year 2010 budget for 
Georgia. According to a DOD official, the DIB program did not 
implement this assistance, primarily because of Georgia's preference 
to work through the FMF-funded advisors, who were available to provide 
full-time assistance, rather than intermittent guidance visits offered 
through the DIB program. 

Second, DOD officials noted that some PfP countries have been 
unwilling to participate in the DIB program's surveys of their defense 
institutions or have lost interest in participating in follow-up 
activities after the surveys were completed. For example, according to 
a DOD official at the U.S. post in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina's 
Ministry of Defense and Joint Staff were not receptive to findings 
from a DIB assessment, which contributed to their decision to pursue 
reforms through FMF-funded advisors instead. DOD officials also noted 
that the PfP countries from Central Asia resist outside assessments of 
their defense institutions or undertaking reforms to increase 
transparency and accountability of these institutions. As shown in 
figure 7, the fiscal year 2010 WIF budget indicates that the DIB 
program planned limited assistance for Central Asian countries 
compared to countries in other regions. 

Figure 7: Fiscal Year 2010 WIF Budget Allocated to the DIB Program, by 
Country and Region: 

[Refer to PDF for image: pie-chart and list] 

Programs: 
Multiple/other: 6%; 
Central Asia: 6%; 
Eastern Europe: 18%; 
Caucasus: 31%; 
Balkans: 39%. 

Region: Balkans; 
3,050,000. 

Country: Bosnia-Herzegovina; 
DIB Funding: $1,150,000. 

Country: Montenegro; 
DIB Funding: $800,000. 

Country: Serbia; 
DIB Funding: $800,000. 

Country: Macedonia; 
DIB Funding: $300,000. 

Region: Caucasus; 
DIB Funding: $2,429,596. 

Country: Armenia; 
DIB Funding: $950,000. 

Country: Georgia; 
DIB Funding: $929,596. 

Country: Azerbaijan; 
DIB Funding: $550,000. 

Region: Eastern Europe; 
DIB Funding: $1,380,000. 

Country: Ukraine; 
DIB Funding: $1,030,000. 

Country: Moldova; 
DIB Funding: $350,000. 

Region: Central Asia; 
DIB Funding: $439,400. 

Country: Kazakhstan; 
DIB Funding: $105,000. 

Country: Kyrgyz Republic; 
DIB Funding: $84,400. 

Country: Tajikistan; 
DIB Funding: $0. 

Country: Uzbekistan; 
DIB Funding: $0. 

Country: Turkmenistan; 
DIB Funding: $0. 

Region: Central Asia Multiple; 
DIB Funding: $250,000. 

Region: Multiple/Other; 
DIB Funding: $500,000. 

Total; 
DIB Funding: $7,798,996. 

Source: GAO analysis of DOD data. 

[End of figure] 

DOD officials noted that the DIB program is still relatively new, 
although it was first developed in 2006. The Office of the Secretary 
of Defense only recently transferred management responsibility for the 
DIB program to the Center for Civil-Military Relations at the Naval 
Postgraduate School in canceled, California. The Center established a 
management team in January 2010 and intends to develop a plan for 
evaluating the DIB program, according to an official there. 

DOD Last Evaluated the WIF Program in 2001: 

Two DOD-commissioned assessments of the WIF program were completed in 
2000 and 2001.[Footnote 38] These assessments sought to analyze the 
objectives, activities, and accomplishments of Warsaw Initiative 
programs and identify the lessons learned from program implementation 
and results. The assessments found that the majority of WIF activities 
were successful in enhancing the ability of recipient countries' 
militaries to contribute to NATO operations and to operate with NATO 
forces. The assessments also found that the WIF program should do a 
better job of taking into account the recipient countries' capacities 
to absorb or apply the assistance provided. According to DOD 
officials, no formal evaluations specifically of the WIF program have 
taken place since these two assessments were conducted in 2000 and 
2001.[Footnote 39] Federal standards for internal controls indicate 
that U.S. agencies should monitor and assess the quality of 
performance over time.[Footnote 40] Moreover, GAO's Internal Control 
Tool states that separate evaluations are often prompted by events 
such as major changes in management plans or strategies.[Footnote 41] 
In commenting on our draft of this report, DOD noted that the 
Department has conducted periodic reviews of the WIF program and as a 
result, the program has evolved over time to keep pace with changes in 
NATO. 

WIF program managers conduct midyear budget reviews and program 
management reviews each year. The budget review is designed primarily 
to assess the execution of WIF funds for the first half of the year 
and determine if any funds should be reallocated; however, the Defense 
Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) did not have data readily available 
on how funds were reprogrammed when events were canceled. According to 
DOD officials, the program management review is a forum for program 
managers and stakeholders to discuss ways the program can be improved 
and any lessons learned. Program implementers also prepare after 
action reports on individual events supported by WIF funding that 
include evaluations of results, according to DSCA officials. In 
addition, DOD officials also noted that while the department does not 
assess results of the WIF program specifically, it monitors progress 
countries make in achieving broader U.S security cooperation goals, 
which are supported by a variety of programs and funding streams, 
including WIF. 

Conclusion: 

The WIF program provides a key source of DOD funding to support 
eligible countries' participation in NATO's PfP program. NATO's new 
Strategic Concept, due at the end of 2010, will likely lead to further 
changes to the PfP program and other partnerships that could have 
implications for the WIF program. For example, DOD may need to 
reconsider how it defines eligibility for WIF funding to complement 
efforts by NATO to increase the level of cooperation activities with 
partner countries outside of the PfP program. DOD's current policy is 
that WIF funding is only available to NATO partner countries in the 
PfP program. While DOD officials noted that they have undertaken 
efforts to periodically review and adapt the WIF program to changes in 
the PfP program, the last formal evaluation of the WIF program took 
place in 2001. This was before the focus of the PfP and WIF programs 
changed in response to the changing composition of participating 
countries and the critical need for partner contributions to the NATO-
led war in Afghanistan. In addition, the challenges DOD has faced in 
implementing the WIF-funded DIB program, including potential 
duplication of other U.S.-funded assistance, heighten the need to 
assess whether the WIF program is effectively supporting PfP 
countries' goals for cooperation with NATO and NATO's efforts to 
deepen its relationships with partner countries. 

Recommendation for Executive Action: 

We recommend that, following the establishment of NATO's new Strategic 
Concept, which could result in changes to NATO's PfP program, the 
Secretary of Defense conduct an evaluation of the U.S. WIF program to 
ensure that it effectively supports the goals of NATO's PfP program. 

Agency Comments and Our Evaluation: 

We provided a draft of this report to the Secretaries of Defense and 
State for their review and comment. DOD provided oral comments stating 
that the Department concurs with our recommendation. In commenting on 
our draft, DOD noted that the Department has conducted periodic 
reviews of the WIF program and, as a result, the program has evolved 
over time to keep pace with changes in NATO. DOD and State also 
provided technical comments, which we incorporated in the report as 
appropriate. 

As agreed with your office, unless you publicly announce the contents 
of this report earlier, we plan no further distribution until 30 days 
from the report date. At that time, we will send copies of this report 
to the Secretaries of Defense and State and other interested 
congressional committees. In addition, this report will be available 
at no charge on the GAO Web site at [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov]. 

If you or your staff have any questions about this report, please 
contact me at (202) 512-8979 or christoffj@gao.gov. Contact points for 
our Offices of Congressional Relations and Public Affairs may be found 
on the last page of this report. GAO staff who made key contributions 
to this report are listed in appendix VI. 

Sincerely yours, 

Signed by: 

Joseph A. Christoff: 
Director, International Affairs and Trade: 

[End of section] 

Appendix I: Scope and Methodology: 

Our objectives were to (1) describe how the Partnership for Peace 
(PfP) program has evolved since GAO last reported on it; (2) describe 
options the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is considering 
for the future of the PfP and other partnership programs under the new 
Strategic Concept; and (3) analyze support to PfP countries through 
the U.S. Warsaw Initiative Fund (WIF) program. To address these 
objectives, we analyzed NATO, Department of Defense (DOD), and 
Department of State (State) documents; academic literature related to 
PfP and WIF programs; and WIF funding data for fiscal years 2006 
through 2010. We met with DOD and State officials in Washington, D.C., 
and the U.S. Mission to NATO in Brussels, Belgium. We also met with 
NATO officials at both NATO Headquarters in Brussels and at Supreme 
Headquarters Allied Powers Europe in Mons, Belgium, as well as with 
representatives from five PfP countries and one NATO member country. 
In addition, we conducted phone interviews with geographic U.S. 
combatant command officials who have PfP countries in their areas of 
responsibility--European Command (EUCOM) in Stuttgart, Germany, and 
Central Command (CENTCOM) in Tampa, Florida. We also reviewed relevant 
GAO and Congressional Research Service reports to obtain additional 
background information on NATO, the PfP, and NATO and the United 
States' security cooperation relationships with PfP countries. 

In addition, we selected three countries--Bosnia-Herzegovina, Georgia, 
and Kazakhstan--to examine NATO's bilateral relationship with PfP 
partners and U.S. support through the WIF program in greater depth. We 
sought to pick countries that differed, among other things, in terms 
of their geographic location, level of participation in the PfP, 
interest in NATO membership, and contributions to NATO operations. We 
met with State and DOD officials at the U.S. Embassy in Tbilisi, 
Georgia; Government of Georgia officials; and NATO officials based in 
Tbilisi. We also conducted telephone interviews with U.S. officials in 
Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina; and Astana, Kazakhstan; and with an 
official from NATO Headquarters, Sarajevo. This sample of three 
countries is not intended to be representative of all countries 
participating in the PfP program or receiving WIF funding. 

To describe how the PfP program has evolved since 2001 when GAO last 
reported on it, we reviewed a variety of relevant NATO documents that 
provided information on the PfP and analyzed how it has evolved over 
time. These documents included background materials that NATO has 
produced on the PfP generally and on specific PfP mechanisms. We also 
reviewed materials NATO has produced describing NATO enlargement since 
the PfP was created in 1994 and materials describing the 
organization's cooperative efforts with specific PfP countries. 
Additionally, we assessed the results of NATO reviews of the PfP 
conducted in 2002 and 2004 and reviewed NATO summit statements from 
1999 through 2009 to identify decisions NATO leaders have made about 
the PfP. We also reviewed NATO guidance on the PfP, such as NATO's 
Handbook, the 2009 Euro-Atlantic Partnership Work Plan (EAPWP) 
Overarching Guidance, and the 2009 Planning and Review Process (PARP) 
Ministerial Guidance. In order to assess PfP countries' level of 
engagement with NATO and their use of key mechanisms, we also reviewed 
examples of Individual Partnership Action Plans, Annual National 
Programmes, and PARP documents. We also reviewed corresponding 
assessments for these documents that describe NATO's findings about 
partners' progress in achieving these goals. To identify troop 
contributions to NATO's operations in Afghanistan and Kosovo, we 
analyzed publicly available NATO data that provided approximate 
figures of troop contributions by participating countries. We found 
these data to be sufficiently reliable for presenting the extent to 
which countries are contributing troops to these operations. To gather 
further information on how the PfP has changed since 2001, we also 
assessed findings in State's annual reports to Congress on PfP 
developments for years 2007 through 2009. We also used information 
gathered in our interviews with U.S., NATO, and PfP country officials 
to further identify ways that the PfP program has changed since 2001. 

To describe options NATO is considering for the future of the PfP and 
other partnership programs under the new Strategic Concept, we 
reviewed and synthesized findings from several NATO analyses, 
conducted in 2009 and 2010, including the Group of Experts' final 
report, NATO's Multiple Futures Project Final Report, NATO Allied 
Command Transformation's report, "Building the Alliance's New 
Strategic Concept," and the NATO Parliamentary Assembly's 
recommendations regarding the new Strategic Concept. We also reviewed 
summary reports from two NATO conferences held in 2010 discussing the 
future of NATO's partnership efforts. Additionally, we reviewed 
proposals by some PfP countries regarding how the Strategic Concept 
should address the issue of partnerships. To gain further information 
on considerations about NATO's Strategic Concept and options for 
NATO's partnerships, we reviewed academic articles, Congressional 
testimonies by NATO experts, speeches by key U.S. and NATO officials, 
and interviewed U.S., NATO, and PfP country officials during our visit 
to NATO Headquarters. 

To analyze support to PfP countries through the U.S. WIF program, we 
discussed WIF-funded activities and program monitoring with DOD 
officials at the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Defense Security 
Cooperation Agency (DSCA), EUCOM, and CENTCOM. We also discussed the 
WIF program with security assistance officers at U.S. embassies in 
Bosnia-Herzegovina, Georgia, and Kazakhstan.[Footnote 42] In addition, 
we discussed the WIF program with an official from the Center for 
Civil-Military Relations at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, 
California, which is responsible for managing the WIF-funded Defense 
Institution Building (DIB) program. We also reviewed DSCA guidance on 
the WIF program, and annual budget submissions and memos. In addition, 
to assess the extent of DOD's past evaluations of the WIF program, we 
reviewed the findings of two independent assessments of the WIF 
program completed in 2000 and 2001, a July 2005 audit of the WIF 
program by the DOD Inspector General, and our July 2001 report on the 
NATO PfP and WIF programs.[Footnote 43] 

To present information on WIF funding priorities and the distribution 
of funding among eligible countries, we analyzed WIF summary budget 
data for fiscal years 2006 through 2010 from DSCA. According to DOD, 
no reliable data showing the distribution of WIF budgets among 
eligible countries were available before fiscal year 2006. We also 
analyzed all approved activities in the fiscal year 2010 WIF budget to 
determine how WIF funding was distributed among eligible PfP countries 
and by type of activity. We focused on fiscal year 2010 budget data 
because, for fiscal years 2006 through 2009, DOD grouped a significant 
share of the WIF budget into a multiple country category. For example, 
in fiscal year 2009, the WIF budget allocated about $11 million out of 
a total of about $30 million in WIF funding to the multiple country 
category. The fiscal year 2010 WIF budget attributed more of the 
funding to specific countries and allocated only about $2 million to 
the multiple country category. Consequently, country breakouts in the 
fiscal year 2010 budget are more meaningful than in previous years. We 
also analyzed data on canceled activities approved in the WIF budgets 
for fiscal years 2009 and 2010 from DSCA and corroborated this 
information through interviews or emails with officials from DSCA; 
combatant commands; and the U.S. posts in Bosnia, Georgia, and 
Kazakhstan. 

To assess the reliability of DOD's WIF budget data, we interviewed 
DSCA officials about the data and reviewed all the approved activities 
in the WIF budgets for fiscal years 2009 and 2010. We also discussed 
WIF funding with security assistance officers at U.S. posts in Bosnia- 
Herzegovina, Georgia, and Kazakhstan to help verify the accuracy of 
DSCA budget data in these countries. We found the WIF budget data used 
in this report to be sufficiently reliable to present the distribution 
of the fiscal year 2010 WIF budget among eligible countries and 
specific types of activities, such as support for PfP countries' 
participation in military exercises and the DIB program. 

We conducted this performance audit from November 2009 to September 
2010 in accordance with generally accepted government auditing 
standards. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit 
to obtain sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable 
basis for our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives. 
We believe that the evidence obtained provides a reasonable basis for 
our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives. 

[End of section] 

Appendix II: Description of DOD Components Responsible for Executing 
the WIF Program: 

Within DOD, multiple components implement the WIF program. The Office 
of the Secretary of Defense is responsible for the development, 
coordination, and oversight of policy and other activities related to 
the WIF program. DSCA manages the program and provides the funding to 
different implementing components that are responsible for executing 
the program. Table 3 describes these implementing components. The 
portion of WIF funding that supports PfP countries' participation in 
military exercises comes from WIF budget allocations to the relevant 
combatant commands. The combatant commands also use some of their WIF 
funding for military contact programs. 

Table 3: Descriptions of and Funding for WIF Implementing Components, 
Fiscal Year 2010: 

Implementing component: CENTCOM; 
Description: CENTCOM is one of six geographic combatant commands. 
CENTCOM, which is based in Tampa, Florida, is responsible for U.S. 
military relations with most of the countries in the Middle East, 
Central Asia, and Egypt; 
Fiscal year 2010 WIF budget allocation: $7,998,605. 

Implementing component: EUCOM; 
Description: EUCOM is a geographic combatant command. EUCOM, which is 
headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany, is responsible for U.S. military 
relations with NATO and countries in Europe, as well as Israel; 
Fiscal year 2010 WIF budget allocation: $8,546,440. 

Implementing component: U.S. Joint Forces Command; 
Description: U.S. Joint Forces Command, which is located in Norfolk, 
Virginia, provides mission-ready joint forces to the combatant 
commanders in support of current operations. The command also focuses 
on military transformation and assisting combatant commanders with 
executing their regional security cooperation programs; 
Fiscal year 2010 WIF budget allocation: $2,728,531. 

Implementing component: DIB Program; 
Description: DIB is intended to help PfP countries develop 
accountable, professional, and transparent defense establishments. The 
program is managed by the Center for Civil-Military Relations at the 
Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California; 
Fiscal year 2010 WIF budget allocation: $7,798,996. 

Implementing component: Civil Military Emergency Preparedness Program; 
Description: The Civil Military Emergency Preparedness Program is led 
by the U.S. Army under the direction of the U.S. Army Corps of 
Engineers to encourage civil-military and multinational cooperation 
with PfP countries to plan for protecting populations and reducing the 
consequences in the event of major disasters from any cause, including 
terrorism; 
Fiscal year 2010 WIF budget allocation: $1,954,256. 

Implementing component: George C. Marshall Center; 
Description: The George C. Marshall Center was established in Garmisch-
Partenkirchen, Germany, in 1993. It is a jointly U.S.-and German-
funded international security and defense studies institute that 
promotes dialogue and understanding among the nations of North 
America, Europe, Eurasia, and beyond. It holds a variety of defense 
related conferences in which PfP countries participate with the 
support of WIF funding; 
Fiscal year 2010 WIF budget allocation: $1,321,050. 

Implementing component: PfP Information Management System; 
Description: The PfP Information Management System provides 
communications and information systems capabilities that facilitate 
PfP countries' cooperation with NATO and the United States; 
Fiscal year 2010 WIF budget allocation: $1,500,000. 

Implementing component: Regional Airspace Initiative; 
Description: The Regional Airspace Initiative is designed to develop 
PfP countries' airspace management systems to be fully compatible and 
interoperable with European civilian airspace organizations and NATO; 
Fiscal year 2010 WIF budget allocation: $479,000. 

Implementing component: Management and Oversight; 
Description: [Empty]; 
Fiscal year 2010 WIF budget allocation: $2,550,000. 

Total: 
Fiscal year 2010 WIF budget allocation: $34,876,878. 

Source: GAO presentation of State and DOD data. 

Note: Total funding of $34,876,878 allocated to implementing 
components exceeds the fiscal year 2010 WIF budget of $29,789,000 to 
allow program implementers flexibility to reprogram funding when WIF-
supported activities are canceled. 

[End of table] 

[End of section] 

Appendix III: Other U.S. Security Cooperation Programs Supporting WIF 
and PfP Goals: 

Table 4 describes U.S. security cooperation programs that provide 
assistance related to the goals of the WIF program and NATO's PfP 
program. The relevant geographic combatant commands (COCOM) and 
security assistance officers based at U.S. posts in recipient 
countries play a key role in ensuring that the WIF program complements 
the other available sources of funding in support of U.S. security 
cooperation goals.[Footnote 44] 

Table 4: Descriptions of U.S. Security Cooperation Programs that 
Provide Assistance Related to WIF and NATO PfP Programs: 

Cooperation program: Foreign Military Financing (FMF); 
Description: FMF provides grants and loans to foreign governments and 
international organizations for the acquisition of U.S. defense 
equipment, services, and training. FMF assists the militaries of 
friendly countries to promote bilateral, regional, and multilateral 
coalition efforts; improve military capabilities to contribute to 
international crisis response operations, including peacekeeping and 
humanitarian crises; contribute to the professionalism of military 
forces; enhance interoperability of military forces; maintain support 
for democratically elected governments; and support the U.S. 
industrial base by promoting the export of U.S. defense-related goods 
and services. 

Cooperation program: International Military Education and Training 
(IMET); 
Description: IMET provides training to military and related civilian 
personnel. IMET training exposes foreign students to U.S. military 
organizations and procedures and the manner in which military 
organizations function under civilian control. IMET aims to strengthen 
democratic and civilian control of foreign militaries, improve their 
understanding of U.S. military doctrine and operational procedures, 
and enhance interoperability. IMET facilitates the development of 
professional and personal relationships, which aim to provide U.S. 
access to foreign governments. 

Cooperation program: Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR); 
Description: CTR is intended to prevent the proliferation of weapons 
of mass destruction and related materials, technologies, and expertise 
from former Soviet Union states. While the initial focus of the CTR 
program was on the most pressing nuclear proliferation threats, 
program funding has also been directed toward improving the physical 
protection, safety, and security of facilities that housed dangerous 
bio-agents. Activities include: familiarization visits, conferences, 
and seminars. 

Cooperation program: Traditional Combatant Commander Activities (TCA); 
Description: TCA provides funds to combatant commands to conduct 
military-to-military contacts and comparable activities with allied 
and friendly countries designed to encourage a democratic orientation 
of defense establishments and military forces. Some functions include 
traveling contact teams, military liaison teams, exchanges of military 
and civilian personnel, seminars, and conferences within the COCOM 
area of responsibility. 

Cooperation program: Section 1206; 
Description: Section 1206 authorizes DOD to use its own funds to train 
and equip partner nations' national military and maritime forces to 
conduct counterterrorism operations or to participate in or support 
military or stability operations in which the U.S. armed forces 
participate. This program is also known as the Global Train and Equip 
Program. 

Source: DOD and State. 

[End of table] 

Figure 8 shows the level of funding of these programs and the WIF 
program to eligible PfP countries in fiscal year 2009. 

Figure 8: Funding for PfP Countries from WIF and Related Security 
Cooperation Programs, Fiscal Year 2009: Dollars in thousands: 

[Refer to PDF for image: illustrated table] 

PfP Country: Armenia; 
Warsaw Initiative Fund: $1,177,000; 
International Military Education and Training: $357,000; 
Cooperative Threat Reduction: $244,700; 
Traditional Combatant Commander Activities: 0.0
Foreign Military Financing: $3,000,000. 

PfP Country: Azerbaijan; 
Warsaw Initiative Fund: $978,000; 
International Military Education and Training: $989,000; 
Cooperative Threat Reduction: $142,600; 
Traditional Combatant Commander Activities: 0.0
Foreign Military Financing: $3000,000. 

PfP Country: Belarus; 
Warsaw Initiative Fund: 0.0; 
International Military Education and Training: 0.0; 
Cooperative Threat Reduction: 0.0; 
Traditional Combatant Commander Activities: 0.0; 
Foreign Military Financing: 0.0. 

PfP Country: Bosnia Herzegovina; 
Warsaw Initiative Fund: $787,000; 
International Military Education and Training: $939,000; 
Cooperative Threat Reduction: 0.0; 
Traditional Combatant Commander Activities: $390,000; 
Foreign Military Financing: $3,600,000. 

PfP Country: Georgia; 
Warsaw Initiative Fund: $141,000; 
International Military Education and Training: $1,426,000; 
Cooperative Threat Reduction: $83,000; 
Traditional Combatant Commander Activities: 0.0; 
Foreign Military Financing: $11,500,000. 

PfP Country: Kazakhstan; 
Warsaw Initiative Fund: $2,040,000; 
International Military Education and Training: $858,000; 
Cooperative Threat Reduction: $1,464,200,000; 
Traditional Combatant Commander Activities: $15,000; 
Foreign Military Financing: $4,500,000. 

PfP Country: Kyrgyz Republic; 
Warsaw Initiative Fund: $971,000; 
International Military Education and Training: $872,000; 
Cooperative Threat Reduction: $776,200; 
Traditional Combatant Commander Activities: $15,000; 
Foreign Military Financing: $800,000. 

PfP Country: Macedonia; 
Warsaw Initiative Fund: $380,000; 
International Military Education and Training: $620,000; 
Cooperative Threat Reduction: 0.0; 
Traditional Combatant Commander Activities: $193,700; 
Foreign Military Financing: $2,800,000. 

PfP Country: Moldova; 
Warsaw Initiative Fund: $202,000; 
International Military Education and Training: $674,000; 
Cooperative Threat Reduction: $254,100; 
Traditional Combatant Commander Activities: 0.0; 
Foreign Military Financing: $500,000. 

PfP Country: Montenegro; 
Warsaw Initiative Fund: $600,000; 
International Military Education and Training: $148,000; 
Cooperative Threat Reduction: 0.0; 
Traditional Combatant Commander Activities: $157,900; 
Foreign Military Financing: $800,000. 

PfP Country: Russia; 
Warsaw Initiative Fund: $240,000; 
International Military Education and Training: 0.0; 
Cooperative Threat Reduction: 0.0; 
Traditional Combatant Commander Activities: 0.0; 
Foreign Military Financing: 0.0. 

PfP Country: Serbia; 
Warsaw Initiative Fund: $1,090,000; 
International Military Education and Training: $887,000; 
Cooperative Threat Reduction: 0.0; 
Traditional Combatant Commander Activities: $297,500; 
Foreign Military Financing: $800,000. 

PfP Country: Tajikstan; 
Warsaw Initiative Fund: $417,000; 
International Military Education and Training: $269,000; 
Cooperative Threat Reduction: $704,900; 
Traditional Combatant Commander Activities: $15,000; 
Foreign Military Financing: $740,000; 

PfP Country: Turkmenistan; 
Warsaw Initiative Fund: $417,000; 
International Military Education and Training: $269,000; 
Cooperative Threat Reduction: $225,100; 
Traditional Combatant Commander Activities: $15,000; 
Foreign Military Financing: $150,000. 

PfP Country: Ukraine; 
Warsaw Initiative Fund: $2,191,000; 
International Military Education and Training: $1,813,000; 
Cooperative Threat Reduction: $413,200; 
Traditional Combatant Commander Activities: $22,500; 
Foreign Military Financing: $7,000,000. 

PfP Country: Uzbekistan; 
Warsaw Initiative Fund: $615,000; 
International Military Education and Training: 0.0; 
Cooperative Threat Reduction: $507,200; 
Traditional Combatant Commander Activities: $15,000; 
Foreign Military Financing: 0.0. 

Source: GAO analysis of DOD and State data. 

Notes: 
1) In addition to these programs, Kyrgyz Republic received $9,572,000 
in Section 1206 funding in fiscal year 2009. 

2) Over $11 million of the WIF budget in fiscal year 2009 was 
classified to a multiple country category, which reduced the WIF funds 
attributed to individual countries. 

[End of figure] 

[End of section] 

Appendix IV: NATO Areas of Cooperation: 

PfP countries are able to select partnership activities and events in 
which they would like to participate from the EAPWP. The EAPWP lists 
activities and events offered by NATO, as well as by individual NATO 
members and other PfP countries. It is revised every 2 years. In the 
2010-2011 EAPWP, there are over 1,200 activities sorted into 34 areas 
of cooperation. PfP countries determine the areas of cooperation on 
which they wish to focus and select relevant activities in each area. 
Table 5 lists these areas of cooperation. 

Table 5: Areas of Cooperation in the 2010-2011 EAPWP: 

Arms Control, Disarmament and Nonproliferation. 

Air Defense. 

Armaments Cooperation, including planning, organization, and 
management of defense procurement. 

Airspace Management and Control. 

Border Security and Control. 

Consultation, Command and Control, including Communications and 
Information Systems, Navigation and Identification Systems, Spectrum 
Management, interoperability aspects, procedures, and terminology. 

Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear Defense. 

Cyber Defense. 

Civil Emergency Planning and Disaster Preparedness. 

Crisis Management. 

Combating Trafficking in Human Beings. 

Democratic Control of Forces and Defense Structures. 

Defense Economic Issues. 

Deployability and Mobility. 

Defense Planning, Budgeting, and Resource Management. 

Defense Policy and Strategy. 

Planning, Organization, and Management of National Defense Research 
and Technology. 

Effective Engagement. 

Foreign Policy and Security. 

Gender Perspectives, Peace and Security, including the implementation 
of UNSCR 1325, UNSCR 1820, and related UN Security Council Resolutions. 

Humanitarian Mine Action and Related Explosive Remnants of War 
Activities. 

Effective Intelligence. 

Language Training. 

Law of Armed Conflict. 

Logistics and Logistics Sustainability. 

Medical Services. 

Public Diplomacy. 

Protective Security Systems and Inspections. 

Response to Terrorism. 

Survivability and Force Protection. 

Small Arms and Light Weapons. 

Science for Peace and Security. 

Operational, Materiel, and Administrative Aspects of Standardization. 

Timely Force Availability. 

Source: NATO. 

[End of table] 

[End of section] 

Appendix V: PfP Countries' PARP Partnership Goals: 

Eighteen PfP countries participate in PARP. Russia, Tajikistan, 
Turkmenistan, and Malta are the only four PfP countries that do not 
currently participate in the PARP process. PARP is modeled on NATO's 
own force planning system and allows interested PfP countries to work 
more closely with NATO to develop the interoperability of their forces 
and strengthen their defense institutions. Countries participating in 
PARP work with NATO to assess their defense capabilities, identify 
potential contributions to NATO exercises and operations, and select 
specific partnership goals for developing their defense capabilities 
and building interoperability. There are over 150 partnership goals 
that partners can choose from. There are general goals related to 
defense-wide issues, such as defense planning and budgeting, as well 
as goals specific to countries' land, maritime, and air forces. Table 
6 shows the 14 partnership goals most commonly selected by partners in 
2008. 

Table 6: PfP Countries' Most Frequently Selected Partnership Goals in 
2008: 

Partnership goal: Land Operations and Training; 
Number of PfP countries selecting the goal: 18. 

Partnership goal: Language Requirements; 
Number of PfP countries selecting the goal: 17. 

Partnership goal: Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear 
Weapons Protection; 
Number of PfP countries selecting the goal: 17. 

Partnership goal: Combat Unit Contribution; 
Number of PfP countries selecting the goal: 17. 

Partnership goal: Medical Support; 
Number of PfP countries selecting the goal: 16. 

Partnership goal: Strategic Movement of National Forces; 
Number of PfP countries selecting the goal: 15. 

Partnership goal: Mine Detection, Mine Clearing, and Explosive 
Ordinance Disposal Capabilities; 
Number of PfP countries selecting the goal: 15. 

Partnership goal: Combined Joint Task Force Headquarters Augmentation; 
Number of PfP countries selecting the goal: 14. 

Partnership goal: Logistics Liaison Personnel; 
Number of PfP countries selecting the goal: 14. 

Partnership goal: National Support for Deployed Forces; 
Number of PfP countries selecting the goal: 14. 

Partnership goal: Air Operations and Training; 
Number of PfP countries selecting the goal: 14. 

Partnership goal: Combat Identification Devices and Combat 
Identification Training; 
Number of PfP countries selecting the goal: 13. 

Partnership goal: Message System Upgrade; 
Number of PfP countries selecting the goal: 12. 

Partnership goal: Combat Support Contribution; 
Number of PfP countries selecting the goal: 11. 

Source: GAO analysis of NATO data. 

[End of table] 

The 18 countries selected an average of 37 partnership goals in 2008. 
Ukraine selected the most goals with 96, while Kyrgyz Republic 
selected the least with 15. The types of goals selected by countries 
varied. For instance, Western European partners' goals for 
participation in the PfP program focused primarily on improving 
military capabilities and interoperability with NATO. The European 
Union (EU) and NATO have committed to adhere to common standards in 
the development of their armed forces, so PfP countries that are also 
EU members are fulfilling EU requirements by developing 
interoperability with NATO. The Western European PfP countries already 
have developed civilian-run defense institutions and, therefore, do 
not generally pursue goals related to those issues. Countries from the 
Balkans and the former Soviet Union selected goals related to 
improving their military capabilities and interoperability with NATO 
as well. However, many of these countries also identified additional 
objectives related to defense institution building, including goals 
focusing on civilian control of the military, defense budgeting and 
planning, and effective personnel and resource management. 

[End of section] 

Appendix VI: GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments: 

GAO Contact: 

Joseph Christoff (202) 512-8979 or christoffj@gao.gov: 

Staff Acknowledgments: 

Key contributors to this report include Judith McCloskey, Assistant 
Director; Ashley Alley; Debbie Chung; Howard Cott; David Dayton; David 
Dornisch; Etana Finkler; and Ryan Vaughan. 

[End of section] 

Footnotes: 

[1] GAO, NATO: U.S. Assistance to the Partnership for Peace, 
[hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-01-734] (Washington, D.C.: 
July 20, 2001). 

[2] In April 2010, the NATO Foreign Ministers voted to offer Bosnia- 
Herzegovina a MAP; however, the Foreign Ministers decided that Bosnia- 
Herzegovina must resolve certain issues regarding its immovable 
defense property before it can fully participate in MAP. 

[3] Three Caucasus countries participate in the PfP: Armenia, 
Azerbaijan, and Georgia. Five Central Asian countries participate in 
the PfP: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and 
Uzbekistan. 

[4] For the purposes of this report, the Balkans region is defined as 
Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, 
and Serbia. "Macedonia" is an unofficial name for the state recognized 
by the U.S. government as "the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia." 
In 1995, NATO established its first peace operation in the Balkans, 
the Implementation Force in Bosnia-Herzegovina, which was later 
renamed the Stabilization Force. NATO ended the Stabilization Force 
operation in 2004. In 1999, after an air campaign against Serbia and 
Montenegro, NATO established a second peace operation in the region, 
the Kosovo Force, which continues operations at a reduced level. 

[5] In addition to the PfP, NATO created the MD and ICI partnership 
programs to establish cooperative relationships with countries in 
North Africa and the Middle East. 

[6] NATO refers to countries such as Australia and Japan as "Partners 
across the Globe." NATO maintains cooperative relationships with such 
countries outside of a formal partnership program. 

[7] The 28 NATO members are Albania, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, 
Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, 
Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, 
Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Turkey, 
United Kingdom, and the United States. 

[8] While members must unanimously agree to any new country's 
accession, the treaty contains no explicit criteria that a country 
must meet in order to join the alliance. Article 10 does not permit 
additional countries located outside of Europe to join NATO. 

[9] The Warsaw Treaty Organization--commonly known as the Warsaw Pact-
-was created in 1955 and included the Soviet Union, Albania, Bulgaria, 
Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, and Romania. It was 
dissolved in 1991. 

[10] The 22 countries currently in the PfP program are Armenia, 
Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Finland, Georgia, 
Ireland, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Macedonia, Malta, Moldova, 
Montenegro, Russia, Serbia, Sweden, Switzerland, Tajikistan, 
Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan. 

[11] The PfP Framework Document, which provides the formal basis for 
the PfP, establishes these objectives. All countries seeking to join 
the PfP are required to sign the Framework Document. In doing so, 
countries make several commitments including working to preserve 
democratic societies and maintain the principles of international law. 

[12] The MD countries are Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Mauritania, 
Morocco, and Tunisia. 

[13] Four of the six Gulf Cooperation Council countries have joined 
the ICI--Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. The 
other two countries, Saudi Arabia and Oman, have shown an interest in 
the ICI, according to NATO, but have yet to join. 

[14] Partners across the Globe countries are Australia, Japan, 
Republic of Korea, and New Zealand. NATO has also referred to these 
countries as "Contact Countries." 

[15] The UN Security Council Resolution 1386 of December 20, 2001, 
provided for the creation of ISAF and its deployment to Kabul and 
surrounding areas. 

[16] Malta originally joined the PfP in 1995, but then suspended its 
participation in 1996. It rejoined the PfP in 2008. 

[17] Current Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych has reversed his 
predecessor's policy of pursuing NATO membership for Ukraine. 
Subsequent to his election in February 2010, he signed legislation 
declaring Ukraine a "non-bloc" state and specifying that Ukraine is 
not pursuing membership in NATO. 

[18] "Macedonia" is an unofficial name for the state recognized by the 
U.S. government as "the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia." 
Macedonia has claimed the right to use and be recognized by its 
constitutional name, "the Republic of Macedonia." However, Greece, 
whose largest province borders the former Yugoslav republic and is 
also called "Macedonia," has raised objections, claiming that the name 
usurps Greece's heritage and implies aspirations to Greek territory. 
Greece has blocked approval of Macedonia's NATO membership pending the 
resolution of the issue. 

[19] Under the 1995 Dayton Peace Agreement, which ended the 3-year 
war, Bosnia-Herzegovina continued as a sovereign state within its 
internationally recognized borders and consisted of two semiautonomous 
"entities:" the Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina and the Republika 
Srpska. 

[20] Article 10 of the North Atlantic Treaty limits NATO expansion to 
European states. 

[21] Georgia and Ukraine requested MAPs at NATO's 2008 summit, but 
NATO declined to grant either country a MAP given disagreement among 
members about whether the countries were ready and given concerns that 
it would escalate tensions with Russia. However, NATO stated its 
intention to offer the two countries membership at some point in the 
future. Subsequently, Ukraine has chosen to no longer pursue NATO 
membership. 

[22] Once Bosnia-Herzegovina's Annual National Programme is accepted, 
the Annual National Programme will supersede its Individual 
Partnership Action Plan and it will no longer be considered as 
participating in this mechanism. 

[23] For the purposes of this report, the Balkans region is defined as 
Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, 
and Serbia. 

[24] Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia on February 17, 
2008. The next day, the United States formally recognized Kosovo as an 
independent and sovereign state. Several other NATO members have also 
recognized Kosovo's independence; however, others such as Greece, 
Romania, Slovakia, and Spain have not. 

[25] NATO leaders called for the development of a new Strategic 
Concept at their April 2009 summit in Strasbourg, France; and Kehl, 
Germany; to replace the previous Strategic Concept completed in 1999. 
This new Strategic Concept will lay out NATO's vision regarding its 
future mission and activities. The new Strategic Concept is scheduled 
to be approved at NATO's November 2010 summit in Lisbon, Portugal. 

[26] According to U.S. officials, the new Strategic Concept is 
expected to be a relatively short document. While the Strategic 
Concept is expected to highlight the importance of the PfP and NATO's 
other partnerships, it will not likely prescribe specific partnership 
reforms. Rather, U.S. officials expect that NATO will develop 
supporting plans that will provide more details on how it intends to 
implement specific elements of the Strategic Concept. 

[27] As part of the process to develop the new Strategic Concept, NATO 
leaders directed NATO's Secretary General to convene a group of 
qualified experts to provide analysis and recommendations to assist 
him in drafting a new Strategic Concept. This 12-member "Group of 
Experts," chaired by former U.S. Secretary of State, Madeleine 
Albright, held a series of seminars, consultations, and meetings with 
civilian and military officials from NATO member and partner country 
governments, as well as other NATO stakeholders. The Group then 
produced a report outlining its findings and recommendations. See: 
NATO, NATO 2020: Assured Security; Dynamic Engagement--Analysis and 
Recommendations of the Group of Experts on a New Strategic Concept for 
NATO (Brussels, Belgium, May 17, 2010). 

[28] NATO's commitment to consult with PfP countries if they face 
security threats is contained in Paragraph 8 of the PfP Framework 
Document. 

[29] As a matter of DOD policy, as defined in its annual budget 
submission to Congress, a country's participation in NATO's PfP 
program is required for eligibility to receive WIF funding, according 
to DOD officials. Consequently, countries lose their eligibility for 
WIF funding when they become NATO members and, therefore, are no 
longer part of the PfP program. In addition, countries participating 
in other NATO partnership programs, such as the MD, are ineligible for 
WIF funding. 

[30] WIF funding may only be provided to PfP countries classified as 
developing. DOD's guidance for the WIF program states that program 
managers should use World Bank lists of developing countries to 
determine eligibility. Of the 22 countries currently in the PfP 
program, all are developing countries except Austria, Finland, 
Ireland, Malta, Sweden, and Switzerland. Of the 16 developing 
countries eligible for WIF funding, the fiscal year 2010 WIF budget 
did not allocate any funding to Belarus or Russia for policy reasons. 

[31] According to a DOD official, the drop in WIF funding also 
reflected a shift in priorities in programming defense-wide Operations 
and Maintenance funds. 

[32] See [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-01-734]. 

[33] According to DOD, no reliable data showing the distribution of 
WIF budgets among eligible countries were available before fiscal year 
2006. For fiscal years 2006 to 2009, DOD grouped a significant share 
of the WIF budget into a multiple country category. The fiscal year 
2010 budget attributed more of the funding to specific countries 
rather than group a large share of the funding to a multiple country 
category. For example, in fiscal year 2009, WIF funding for the 
multilateral exercise, Combined Endeavor, was budgeted for about 
$900,000, all of which was attributed to the multiple country 
category. In fiscal year 2010, a similar level of WIF funding for 
Combined Endeavor was distributed in the budget among nine countries. 

[34] WIF generally does not pay for U.S. or non-PfP country expenses. 
U.S. Government or DOD representatives' expenses may be funded 
according to law and current policy guidance when their expertise is 
critical to the execution of the event. 

[35] According to DOD, the Ukraine Parliament has since passed the 
necessary legislation and Ukraine is scheduled to host the 2011 Sea 
Breeze exercise. 

[36] Preparation for peacekeeping operations included promulgating 
standards of conduct and NATO-compatible rules of engagement for 
peacekeeping units, and establishing a line item for peacekeeping 
operations in the contributing country's budget. 

[37] Ultimately, the DIB program reprogrammed most of its fiscal year 
2009 funding for other activities, which were scheduled "out of 
cycle," and executed between 60 and 65 percent of its fiscal year 2009 
budget, according to the Defense Security Cooperation Agency. 

[38] DFI International, Assessing the Practical Impact of the Warsaw 
Initiative (Washington, D.C., Feb. 2001); and Developing the Warsaw 
Initiative and Minimizing Risks in the Russia Relationship 
(Washington, D.C., Sept. 2000). 

[39] The DOD Office of Inspector General conducted an audit of the WIF 
program in 2005 which focused primarily on compliance with statutory 
funding requirements and restrictions, rather than an evaluation of 
program priorities, and outcomes or impacts. See Inspector General of 
the Department of Defense, Joint Warfighting and Readiness: DOD 
Execution of the Warsaw Initiative Program, D-2005-085 (Arlington, 
Va., July 1, 2005). 

[40] GAO, Standards for Internal Control in Federal Government, 
[hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO/AIMD-00-21.3.1] 
(Washington, D.C.: Nov. 1, 1999). 

[41] GAO, Internal Control Management and Evaluation Tool, [hyperlink, 
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-01-1008G] (Washington, D.C.: August 
2001). 

[42] DOD and State use the term, "security assistance officer," to 
refer to personnel in all organizations, regardless of actual name or 
size, located within overseas U.S. missions and assigned 
responsibility for carrying out security assistance functions. 

[43] [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-01-734]. 

[44] The PfP countries are located within the areas of responsibility 
of either EUCOM or CENTCOM. 

[End of section] 

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Automated answering system: (800) 424-5454 or (202) 512-7470: 

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Chuck Young, Managing Director, youngc1@gao.gov: 
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U.S. Government Accountability Office: 
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Washington, D.C. 20548: