2012 Chicago Summit

2012 Chicago Summit NATO Summit Chicago 2012
Logo of the 2012 Chicago Summit
Host country	United States
Date	20-21 May 2012
Venue(s)	McCormick Place
Cities	Chicago
Website	http://www.chicagonato.org

The 2012 Chicago summit is a meeting of the heads of state and heads of government of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, to be held in Chicago, United States, on 20 and 21 May 2012. The event was originally scheduled to coincide with the 2012 G8 summit, but the G8 summit was later rescheduled to be held at Camp David. This is the first time ever that a NATO summit has been held in the United States outside of Washington, DC.

Agenda

The Chicago summit was originally planned as an "implementation summit" to follow up the 2010 summit in Lisbon. However, the group is now likely to discuss the impact of recent events, such as the Arab Spring, Libyan civil war, global financial crisis, and transition for NATO forces in Afghanistan.

NATO is planning to craft specific resolutions concerning Middle East. Issues to address include the organization's continuing military support of active insurrections in the region, as well conflict with Iran. The group is going to make plans for defending certain areas, such as the Strait of Hormuz

The organization is also going to review its collective relationship to Russia. Indeed, NATO has stated that Russia's attendance at the Chicago event will depend upon acession to a system of European missile defense. Russia worries about its own nuclear deterrent in the region; the United States insists that a system is necessary to mitigate any threat from Iran

NATO will also discuss missile defense and nuclear deterrence more generally. The Lisbon summit ordered the creation of a "Deterrence and Defense Posture Review," (DDPR) a document expected to express and discuss conflicts some of the wide-ranging conflicts on the topic within NATO. Reviewal of the DDPR will represent the first time since the end of the Cold War that NATO has explicitly conferred on the topic of nuclear deterrence. NATO members have a diversity of opinions on these topics, and Karl-Heinz Kamp, the Director of NATO Defense College's Research Division, cautions that few clear conclusions may be reached.

The Afghanistan issue in particular faces a public relations timeline due to a declaration by Barack Obama that NATO activities in Afghanistan would be concluded by 2014.

Protests

Planners expect the NATO summit to draw protests from the Occupy movement, as well as the anti-globalization movement. Local fears about the impact of the protests have caused several local schools to reschedule their prom nights. Some schools are considering closing entirely.

Citizen journalism

A range of groups are expected to organize citizen journalism centers to provide independent media coverage of summit and the expected protests.

Alderman Rick Munoz has proposed legislation for the City Council that prohibits police from interfering with online media and cell phones during the event.

Policing

Police Forces

Chicago mounted police

The summit has been designated a National Special Security Event (NSSE) by the Department of Homeland Security. Final authority over law enforcement thus belongs to the Secret Service. The NSSE steering committee, which also includes representatives from the Chicago Police Department and has 24 subcommittees, began meeting in October 2011.

Local security forces are being trained by an Illinois company called Controlled F.O.R.C.E., which specializes in subduing crowds. Police are being trained in "Mechanical Advantage Control Holds," as well as the use of tasers.

The city has signed a $193,461 contract with Super Seer Corp. for the procurement of new face shields that fit over gas masks; the shields are intended to protect police officers from liquids. The Chicago Police Department will also prepare its mounted unit with riot gear: armor for horses along with "crowd control training."

New Regulation

Chicago's mayor, Rahm Emanuel, has proposed and passed new ordinances targeted at potential protestors. Contrary to Emanuel's initial statements, these ordinances will be permanent, remaining in effect after the summits are over. The new measures include:

• Authorization for the Mayor to purchase and deploy surveillance cameras throughout the city, without any type of oversight.
• Restrictions on public activity, including amplified sound and morning gatherings.
• Restrictions on parades, including the requirement to purchase an insurance policy worth $1 million and to register every sign or banner that will be held by more than one person.
• The power to deputize many different types of law enforcement personnel other than the Chicago Police Department.

These new ordinances drew protests from the ACLU, Amnesty International, the Occupy Movement (particularly Occupy Chicago), and the pro-life movement. Some local business owners have complained about a lack of transparency in policing because those responsible for security are unwilling to release specific plans.