Entangling Alliances: Nato's Security Policy and the Entrenchment of State Secrecy

Abstract

In Central and Eastern Europe, the rapid diffusion of right-to-information laws has been matched by an equally quick spread of state secrets laws. CEE countries are adopting these laws to meet requirements for accession to NATO. NATO refuses to disclose its security of information (SOI) requirements, but the policy, crafted in the early years of the Cold War, appears to be very conservative. It is the foundation of a thickening web of intergovernmental SOI agreements. Such agreements impose significant constraints on the domestic transparency policies of many governments, and pose substantial challenges for advocates of increased transparency. Archival records show that many NATO members were concerned about the impact that NATO requirements would have on domestic policy. It is time for the debate over such SOI rules to be democratized. A first step would be public release of NATO's SOI requirements.

Keywords: transparency, freedom of information, right to information, government secrecy, NATO, national security, defense, defence