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7\/9\/2018<\/span><\/p>\n Written by Peter Korzun<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n The military-political landscape in Europe and the Mediterranean is changing. NATO is not as unified as it once was, and Turkey\u2019s membership has become more of a formality than a real thing. A pro-US group consisting of Great Britain, Poland, and the Baltic States has emerged as part of a North Atlantic Alliance that is divided by differences and the open rift over the 2% financial contribution, a decree that is largely ignored, along with the other divisions that are weakening the bloc.\u00a0O<\/a>ther groups<\/a>\u00a0are arising that also have common security interests. A new pact, an Arab NATO allied with the United States, will soon\u00a0materialize<\/a>\u00a0in the Middle East.\u00a0 Changes are coming, but they are hard to predict as everything is currently in a state of flux.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe United States is interested in increasing its use of military bases and ports in Greece,\u201d\u00a0said<\/a>\u00a0General Joseph Dunford,\u00a0the Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff (CJCS), on Sept. 4 during his visit to Athens.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cIf you look at geography, and you look at current operations in Libya, and you look at\u00a0current operations in Syria<\/a>, you look at potential other operations in the eastern Mediterranean, the geography of Greece and the opportunities here are pretty significant,\u201d\u00a0he added.\u00a0According to<\/a>\u00a0the\u00a0Military Times,\u00a0\u201c[N]o specific bases have been identified, but that Supreme Allied Commander Europe Army Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti is evaluating several options for increased US flight training, port calls to do forward-based ship repairs and additional multilateral exercises.\u201d\u00a0US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross came to Greece right after the CJCS\u2019s\u00a0visit<\/a>\u00a0to take part in the annual Thessaloniki International Trade Fair.<\/span><\/p>\n Washington\u2019s relations with Ankara continue to deteriorate. The idea of expelling Turkey from NATO\u00a0is being discussed<\/a>\u00a0in the most prestigious American media outlets. The view that Ankara is more of an adversary than an ally\u00a0is commonly held<\/a>\u00a0among American pundits.\u00a0 General Dunford pointedly did not include Turkey on his itinerary, as top US military officials would normally do in order to maintain balance in their relationship with Athens and Ankara. This is a clear message to Turkey.<\/span><\/p>\n It\u00a0was reported<\/a>\u00a0in May that the US military had started to operate MQ-9 aerial vehicles out of Greece\u2019s Larissa military base.\u00a0 That same month, the USS\u00a0Harry S. Truman\u00a0aircraft carrier was one of the American ships making a port call. Greece\u2019s Souda Bay naval base is being used to support US operations in Syria. US Ambassador to Greece Geoffrey Pyatt\u00a0has often cited<\/a>\u00a0the strategic significance of the ports of Alexandroupolis and Thessaloniki.<\/span><\/p>\n Washington\u00a0is interested<\/a>\u00a0in helping the Greek military conduct more effective operations in the Aegean and the Mediterranean. Greece is a crucial element in dealing with the challenges of the Eastern Med, the Maghreb, the Balkans, and the Black Sea region.<\/span><\/p>\n There can be no doubt that Ankara\u2019s\u00a0dispute<\/a>\u00a0with Cyprus and Israel over drilling rights in the Mediterranean was also on the agenda of the talks during Gen. Dunford\u2019s visit, although no comments were made to the media in regard to this issue. Greece wants to transform\u00a0Alexandroupoli into a hub for the gas being exported from Israel and Cyprus to Europe. The pipeline\u2019s approximate length is between 1,300 to 2,000 kilometers, and it will begin in Israel and cross through the territories of Cyprus, Crete and Greece to eventually end in Italy. The hub will also have a rail link to Bulgaria. A floating LNG reception, storage, and regasification unit will be part of this project, to make it possible to bring in US LNG supplies.<\/span><\/p>\n The\u00a0planned route\u00a0of the EastMed pipeline<\/a>, a project supported by the EU, will bypass Turkey, despite the increased cost.\u00a0Ankara will<\/a>\u00a0hardly sit idly by and watch this turn of events. Turkey claims that part of the exclusive economic zone of Cyprus is under Turkish jurisdiction. \u00a0According to<\/a>\u00a0Turkey\u2019s President Erdogan, the\u00a0\u201cEastern Mediterranean faces a security threat should Cyprus continue its unilateral operations of offshore oil and gas exploration in the region.\u201d\u00a0The countries involved in the project may need US protection and help in order for this to come to fruition.<\/span><\/p>\n For the US, strengthening its relations with Greece means expanding support for the\u00a0emerging<\/a>\u00a0Greece-Israel-Cyprus Eastern Mediterranean Alliance (EMA) that has been driven by the discovery of hydrocarbons in Israeli and Cypriot waters and by opposition to Turkey. As Ambassador Pyatt\u00a0put it<\/a>, \u201cAmericans are back in a really big way.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n A year ago the US\u00a0opened its first permanent military base<\/a>\u00a0in Israel run by the US military\u2019s European Command (EUCOM). Officially, the primary mission of the air-defense facility located inside the Israeli Air Force\u2019s Mashabim air base, west of the towns of Dimona and Yerucham, is to detect and warn of a possible ballistic missile attack from Iran.\u00a0This is part of a broader process as a new military alliance with its own infrastructure emerges.<\/span><\/p>\n In 2015, Greece and Israel\u00a0signed<\/a>\u00a0a military cooperation agreement. Bilateral and trilateral military drills, such as Nobel Dina, a multinational joint air and sea exercise conducted under the partnership of Greece, Israel, and the United States, have become routine. In March 2014, Israel opened a new military attach\u00e9 office in Greece to signify this ever-closer relationship.<\/span><\/p>\n Israel has a strong\u00a0defense and military relationship<\/a>\u00a0with Cyprus. The three nations are\u00a0pledging<\/a>\u00a0deeper military ties, in keeping with the\u00a0declaration<\/a>\u00a0they issued at the first-ever trilateral defense summit last year.\u00a0 Both Greece and Cyprus are EU members and Israel needs allies within the bloc. Greece\u00a0opposed<\/a>\u00a0the EU\u2019s decision to label products from Israel\u2019s settlements.\u00a0In May, the leaders of the three allied Eastern Mediterranean nations\u00a0paid a joint visit to\u00a0Washington<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n Albania, Greece\u2019s neighbor, has recently offered to\u00a0establish a US military base<\/a>\u00a0on its soil.\u00a0Albania<\/a>\u2018s defense minister, Olta Xhacka,\u00a0made the proposal<\/a>\u00a0in April during her visit to Washington.<\/span><\/p>\n Of all the members of the emerging alliance, only Israel is not a NATO member, but it\u2019s an enhanced partner and a member of the Mediterranean Dialogue. What we actually have is a new alliance within the alliance, which was unofficially established to counter\u00a0Turkey, a full-fledged NATO member.\u00a0 Under the circumstances, it would only be natural for Ankara to\u00a0distance itself\u00a0from NATO<\/a>\u00a0to move toward Russia, Iran, China, the SCO, and, perhaps, the Eurasian Union.<\/span><\/p>\n The alliance of the US and the three Eastern Mediterranean states has emerged as a political and military \u201cpetite entente,\u201d a force to be reckoned with at a time when NATO is facing serious\u00a0challenges<\/a>\u00a0to its unity and the EU\u2019s future\u00a0is in question<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n The two large entities that bring together nations sharing the same \u201cvalues,\u201d or the desire to counter China or\u00a0Russia<\/a>, are giving way to smaller groups of countries pursuing shared regional interests, thus undermining the very concept of what is known as the United West.<\/span><\/p>\n source:https:\/\/www.strategic-culture.org\/news\/2018\/09\/07\/new-alliance-emerges-in-eastern-mediterranean-reshape-regional-security-landscape.html<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 7\/9\/2018 Written by Peter Korzun The military-political landscape in Europe and the Mediterranean is changing. NATO is not as unified as it once was, and Turkey\u2019s membership has become more … <\/p>\n