You begin your article by qualifying Mr. Rutte as NATO’s “political leader”. This is incorrect. Mr. Rutte is the administrative leader of NATO. He does not make political decisions. The Secretary General is the Alliance’s top international civil servant. He is responsible for steering the process of consultation and decision-making in the Alliance and ensuring that decisions are implemented. But the political decision-making body is the North Atlantic Council.
Thank you. That is a fair description of the Secretary role and one I would be willing to accept as a more accurate description but below is a list of duties of the Secretary General from the NATO homepage.
First and foremost, the Secretary General chairs the North Atlantic Council - the Alliance's principal political decision-making body - as well as other senior decision-making committees.
Exactly. The SG chairs the meetings. He can propose items for the agenda. But he doesn’t participate in decision-making. He can voice his opinion. Make recommendations about what are possible courses of action. But he is not a “political leader”. He is an international civil servant, and as such, he must represent all states parties to the Alliance and execute the decisions that they adopt. It’s exactly the same as in all multilateral organizations. It’s a common misperception when people speak of the UN, NATO, the OSCE, the Council of Europe, etc. The Secretaries General are executive heads of the administration, and yes, they are political appointees, but are not themselves political leaders. Or they shouldn’t be. Inevitably they would like to be seen and begin behaving that way at some point. And inevitably, it spells trouble with member states. That’s also why they shouldn’t be blamed for this or that decision, action, or statement. These are always a reflection of member states’ consensus.
You begin your article by qualifying Mr. Rutte as NATO’s “political leader”. This is incorrect. Mr. Rutte is the administrative leader of NATO. He does not make political decisions. The Secretary General is the Alliance’s top international civil servant. He is responsible for steering the process of consultation and decision-making in the Alliance and ensuring that decisions are implemented. But the political decision-making body is the North Atlantic Council.
Thank you. That is a fair description of the Secretary role and one I would be willing to accept as a more accurate description but below is a list of duties of the Secretary General from the NATO homepage.
First and foremost, the Secretary General chairs the North Atlantic Council - the Alliance's principal political decision-making body - as well as other senior decision-making committees.
Exactly. The SG chairs the meetings. He can propose items for the agenda. But he doesn’t participate in decision-making. He can voice his opinion. Make recommendations about what are possible courses of action. But he is not a “political leader”. He is an international civil servant, and as such, he must represent all states parties to the Alliance and execute the decisions that they adopt. It’s exactly the same as in all multilateral organizations. It’s a common misperception when people speak of the UN, NATO, the OSCE, the Council of Europe, etc. The Secretaries General are executive heads of the administration, and yes, they are political appointees, but are not themselves political leaders. Or they shouldn’t be. Inevitably they would like to be seen and begin behaving that way at some point. And inevitably, it spells trouble with member states. That’s also why they shouldn’t be blamed for this or that decision, action, or statement. These are always a reflection of member states’ consensus.