THE HAGUE, Netherlands —
Allies and partners will become more crucial to peace and security in the years ahead, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said here today during a ceremony in which he received the Order of Orange-Nassau.
Marine Corps Gen. Joe Dunford received the award from Dutch Defense Minister Ank Bijleveld and Dutch navy Adm. Rob Bauer, the Netherlands' chief of defense.
The Netherlands is a charter member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and Dunford and Bauer participated in the alliance's Military Committee meeting earlier this week. His visit to the Netherlands was to discuss the state of the already close bilateral relationship.
“I view the strength of the United States as being the network of allies and partners that we have,” Dunford said. “I am very humble about our ability to deal with any of the challenges we have in the world [alone]. But I am actually very confident of our ability to deal with the challenges we have … because of the network of allies and partners.”
Dutch leaders agreed. “As an alliance we are witnessing a change in the security situation with a threat landscape that is becoming more complex, more uncertain,” Bijleveld said. She added that European allies need to do more for security, and that includes investing in military and security…
