Economic Development Online Tip Sheet - NATO Edition
4/4/2011
4/3/2011 - Economic Development Online Monday Musings NATO Edition
Today the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was founded. For good or ill, its origin was founded upon the principle of cooperation against a common threat. While today it is in the news for taking over the air support operation in Libya, it's important to remember that the obstacles to cooperation were great when NATO was originally conceived. It took cooperation in a global conflict and the very real threat of nuclear warfare to drive the countries that make up NATO to unite and form the organization we know today.
While the threats are not nearly as dire for econnomic development organizations, the barriers to cooperation are still very high. Sorting through issues involving regional cooperation, resource allocation, and measuring regional impact of economic development projects all continue to be thorny issues to cooperation. It seems the drive for cooperation is taking hold in more and more communities, but it is important for these communities to recognize how to make cooperation work so that there is a shared burden - only if we are working togther toward a shared objective can true regional collaboration take hold.