The North Atlantic Treaty of April 1949 brought into
being an Alliance of independent countries with a
common interest in maintaining peace and defending
their freedom through political solidarity and adequate
military defence to deter and, if necessary, repel all poss-
ible forms of aggression against them. Created within the
framework of Article 51 of the United Nations Charter,
which reaffirms the inherent right of individual or collec-
tive defence, the Alliance is an association of free states
united in their determination to preserve their security
through mutual guarantees and stable relations with other
countries.
NATO is the Organisation which serves the Alliance. It
is an inter-governmental organisation in which member
countries retain their full sovereignty and independence.
The Organisation provides the forum in which they con-
sult together on any issues they may choose to raise and
take decisions on political and military matters affecting
their security. It provides the structures needed to facili-
tate consultation and cooperation between them, not
only in political fields but also in many other areas where
policies can be coordinated in order to fulfil the goals of
the North Atlantic Treaty.
NATO's essential purpose is thus to safeguard the free-
dom and security of all its members by political and
military means in accordance with the principles of the
United Nations Charter. Based on common values of
democracy, human rights and the rule of law, the Alliance
has worked since its inception for the establishment of a
just and lasting peaceful order in Europe. This Alliance
objective remains unchanged. NATO also embodies the
transatlantic link by which the security of North America
is permanently tied to the security of Europe. It is the
practical expression of effective collective effort among
its members in support of their common interests.
The fundamental operating principle of the Alliance is
that of common commitment and mutual cooperation
among sovereign states based on the indivisibility of the
security of its members. Solidarity within the Alliance,
given substance and effect by NATO's daily work in politi-
cal, military and other spheres, ensures that no member
country is forced to rely upon its own national efforts
alone in dealing with basic security challenges. Without
depriving member states of their right and duty to assume
their sovereign responsibilities in the field of defence, the
Alliance enables them through collective effort to enhance
their ability to realise their essential national security
objectives.
The resulting sense of equal security amongst the mem-
bers of the Alliance, regardless of differences in their
circumstances or in their national military capabilities,
contributes to overall stability within Europe and thus to
the creation of conditions conducive to increased cooper-
ation both among Alliance members and with other coun-
tries. It is on this basis that members of the Alliance,
together with other states, are developing cooperative
structures of security serving the interests of a Europe
which is not subject to divisions and is free to pursue its
political, economic, social and cultural destiny.
2. THE FUNDAMENTAL TASKS OF THE ALLIANCE
The means by which the Alliance carries out its security
policies include the maintenance of a military capability
sufficient to prevent war and to provide for effective
defence; an overall capability to manage successfully
crises affecting the security of its members; and active
political efforts favouring dialogue with other nations
and a cooperative approach to European security, includ-
ing measures to bring about further progress in the field
of arms control and disarmament.
To achieve its essential purpose, the Alliance performs
the following fundamental security tasks:
It provides one of the indispensable foundations for
stable security in Europe based on the growth of demo-
cratic institutions and commitment to the peaceful
resolution of disputes. It seeks to create an environment
in which no country would be able to intimidate or
coerce any European nation or to impose hegemony
through the threat or use of force.
In accordance with Article 4 of the North Atlantic
Treaty, it serves as a transatlantic forum for Allied
consultations on any issues affecting the vital interests
of its members, including developments which might
pose risks to their security. It facilitates appropriate
coordination of their efforts in fields of common
concern.
It provides deterrence and defence against any form of
aggression against the territory of any NATO member
state.
It preserves the strategic balance within Europe.
The structures created within NATO enable member
countries to coordinate their policies in order to fulfil
these complementary tasks. They provide for continuous
consultation and cooperation in political, economic and
other non-military fields as well as the formulation of
joint plans for the common defence; the establishment of
the infrastructure needed to enable military forces to
operate; and arrangements for joint training programmes
and exercises. Underpinning these activities is a complex
civilian and military structure involving administrative,
budgetary and planning staffs, as well as agencies which
have been established by the member countries of the
Alliance in order to coordinate work in specialised fields
- for example, the communications needed to facilitate
political consultation and command and control of mili-
tary forces and the logistics support needed to sustain
military forces.
The following sections describe the origins of the Alli-
ance; the progress which has been made towards the realis-
ation of its goals; the steps being undertaken to transform
the Alliance in accordance with the dramatic changes
which have taken place in the political and strategic
environment; and the machinery of cooperation and struc-
tural arrangements which enable NATO to fulfill its tasks.
3. ORIGINS OF THE ALLIANCE
Between 1945 and 1949, faced with the pressing need for
economic reconstruction, Western European countries
and their North American allies viewed with concern the
expansionist policies and methods of the USSR. Having
fulfilled their own wartime undertakings to reduce their
defence establishments and to demobilise forces, Western
governments became increasingly alarmed as it became
clear that the Soviet leadership intended to maintain its
own military forces at full strength. Moreover, in view of
the declared ideological aims of the Soviet Communist
Party, it was evident that appeals for respect for the
United Nations Charter, and for the international settle-
ments reached at the end of the war, would not guarantee
the national sovereignty or independence of democratic
states faced with the threat of outside aggression or
internal subversion. The imposition of undemocratic
forms of government and the repression of effective oppo-
sition and of basic human and civic rights and freedoms
in many Central and Eastern European countries as well
as elsewhere in the world, added to these fears.
Between 1947 and 1949 a series of dramatic political
events brought matters to a head. These included direct
threats to the sovereignty of Norway, Greece, Turkey
and other Western European countries, the June 1948
coup in Czechoslovakia and the illegal blockade of Berlin
which began in April of the same year.
The signature of the Brussels Treaty of March 1948
marked the determination of five Western European
countries - Belgium, France, Luxembourg, the Nether-
lands and the United Kingdom - to develop a common
defence system and to strengthen the ties between them
in a manner which would enable them to resist the
further use of such pressures. Negotiations with the
United States and Canada then followed on the creation
of a single North Atlantic Alliance based on security
guarantees and mutual commitments between Europe
and North America. Denmark, Iceland, Italy, Norway
and Portugal were invited to become participants in this
process. These negotiations culminated in the signature
of the Treaty of Washington in April 1949, bringing into
being a common security system based on a partnership
among these twelve countries. In 1952 Greece and Turkey
acceded to the Treaty. The Federal Republic of Germany
joined the Alliance in 1955 and, in 1982, Spain also
became a member of NATO.
The North Atlantic Alliance was thus founded on the
basis of a Treaty between member states entered into
freely by each of them after public debate and due parlia-
mentary process. The Treaty upholds their individual
rights as well as their international obligations in accord-
ance with the Charter of the United Nations. It commits
each member country to sharing the risks and responsibili-
ties as well as the benefits of collective security and
requires of each of them the undertaking not to enter
into any other international commitment which might
conflict with the Treaty.
4. NATO TODAY
The fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989, the unifica-
tion of Germany in October 1990, the disintegration of
the Soviet Union in December 1991, and dramatic
changes elsewhere in Central and Eastern Europe, marked
the end of the Cold War era. Since these events, which
have transformed the political situation in Europe, the
nature of the risks faced by the members of the Alliance
has fundamentally changed. However, as events have
proved, dangers to peace and threats to stability remain.
Following the decisions taken by the NATO Heads of
State and Government at their Summit Meetings in
London in July 1990 and in Rome in November 1991,
the North Atlantic Alliance has therefore been adapting
its overall strategy in the light of the changing strategic
and political environment. Attention has focussed in par-
ticular on the need to reinforce the political role of the
Alliance and the contribution it can make, in cooperation
with other institutions, in providing the security and
stability which are the prerequisite for the process of
renewal in which Europe is engaged.
The Strategic Concept adopted by Heads of State and
Government in Rome outlines a broad approach to secu-
rity based on dialogue, cooperation and the maintenance
of a collective defence capability. It integrates political
and military elements of NATO's security policy into a
coherent whole, establishing cooperation with new part-
ners in Central and Eastern Europe as an integral part of
the Alliance's strategy. The Concept provides for reduced
dependence on nuclear weapons and major changes in
NATO's integrated military forces, including substantial
reductions in their size and readiness, improvements in
their mobility, flexibility and adaptability to different
contingencies and greater use of multinational form-
ations. Measures are also being taken to streamline
NATO's military command structure and to adapt the
Alliance's defence planning arrangements and procedures
in the light of the changed circumstances concerning
security in Europe as a whole.
At the Rome Summit Meeting, NATO Heads of State
and Government also issued an important Declaration
on Peace and Cooperation. The Declaration set out the
context for the Alliance's Strategic Concept. It defined
the future tasks and policies of NATO in relation to the
overall institutional framework for Europe's future secu-
rity and in relation to the evolving partnership and cooper-
ation with the countries of Central and Eastern Europe.
It reaffirmed the Alliance's commitment to strengthening
the role of the Conference on Security and Cooperation
in Europe, making specific suggestions for achieving this,
and reaffirmed the consensus among the member coun-
tries of the Alliance on the development of a European
security identity and defence role. It underlined the Alli-
ance's support for the steps being taken in the countries
of Central and Eastern Europe towards reform; offered
practical assistance to help them to succeed in this diffi-
cult transition; invited them to participate in appropriate
Alliance forums; and extended to them the Alliance's
experience and expertise in political, military, economic
and scientific consultation and cooperation.
A particularly significant step taken in this context was
the establishment of a North Atlantic Cooperation Coun-
cil (NACC) to oversee the future development of this
partnership. Subsequent consultations and cooperation
have been wide-ranging but have focussed in particular
on political and security-related matters; conceptual ap-
proaches to arms control and disarmament; defence plan-
ning issues and military matters; democratic concepts of
civilian-military relations; the conversion of defence pro-
duction to civilian purposes; economic issues, defence
expenditure and budgets; scientific cooperation and
defence-related environmental issues; dissemination of in-
formation about NATO in the countries of cooperation
partners; policy planning consultations; and civil/military
air traffic management.
The Rome Declaration also examined the progress
achieved and specific opportunities available in the field
of arms control and underlined the Alliance's adherence
to a global view of security taking into account broader
challenges which can affect security interests.
Since the publication of the Rome Declaration, addi-
tional measures have been taken at Ministerial Meetings
of Foreign and Defence Ministers held in December 1991
and at subsequent meetings, to further the process of
adaptation and transformation on which the Alliance has
embarked. The inaugural meeting of the North Atlantic
Cooperation Council took place on 20 December 1991
with the participation of the Foreign Ministers or repre-
sentatives of NATO countries and of six Central and
Eastern European countries as well as the three Baltic
states. The role of the NACC is to facilitate cooperation on
security and related issues between the participating coun-
tries at all levels and to oversee the process of developing
closer institutional ties as well as informal links between
them. The eleven states on the territory of the former
Soviet Union which now constitute the Commonwealth
of Independent States (CIS) became participants in this
process in March 1992. Georgia and Albania joined the
process in April and June 1992 respectively. NATO is also
playing a role in the coordination of humanitarian aid to
these new states and is making available its unique expert-
ise and capabilities for this purpose.
NATO Defence Ministers met with cooperation part-
ners on 1 April 1992 to consider ways of deepening
dialogue and promoting cooperation between them on
issues falling within their competence. The Military Com-
mittee held its first meeting in cooperation session on
10 April 1992. These meetings advanced the process of co-
operation by offering practical advice and assistance and
preparing an initial cooperation programme on defence-
related matters. In parallel, contacts and cooperation are
being developed between Ministries of Defence and at
the military level. A Group on Defence Matters has been
set up to act as a clearing house for requests for defence-
related assistance from cooperation partners.
Dialogue, partnership and cooperation are described in
more detail in Part II.
Against the background of the crisis in the former
Yugoslavia and the violence taking place in Nagorno-
Karabakh, Armenia and Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova
and elsewhere, attention has also been directed increas-
ingly towards possible NATO support for CSCE peace-
keeping activities and its contributions to UN, CSCE and
EC efforts with regard to Yugoslavia in particular. At the
meeting of the North Atlantic Council in Oslo in June
1992 agreement was reached on providing conditional
support for CSCE peace-keeping activities on a case-by-
case basis, including making available Alliance resources
and expertise. In July a NATO maritime operation was
mounted in the Adriatic, in coordination and cooperation
with operations undertaken by the WEU, to monitor com-
pliance with UN Security Council Resolutions imposing
sanctions on Serbia and Montenegro. Following the
London Conference on Yugoslavia at the end of August,
deliberations in the Alliance focussed on the protection
of humanitarian relief and support for UN monitoring of
heavy weapons. Decisions were taken to make Alliance
support available for these two tasks and to continue
contingency planning on other options.
