The Alliance’s Strategic Concept (1999)

Washington D.C. - 23-24 April 1999

Approved by the Heads of State and Government participating in the meeting of the North Atlantic Council in Washington D.C. on 23rd and 24th April 1999.

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The Alliance’s Purpose and Tasks

1. Enduring Purpose: The Alliance’s essential and enduring purpose, set out in the Washington Treaty, is to safeguard the freedom and security of all its members by political and military means. Based on common values of democracy, human rights and the rule of law, the Alliance has striven since its inception to secure a just and lasting peaceful order in Europe.

2. The Transatlantic Link: The Alliance embodies the transatlantic link by which the security of North America and Europe are permanently tied together. It is the practical expression of effective collective effort among its members in support of their common interests.

3. Indivisibility of Security: The fundamental guiding principle of the Alliance is that of a common commitment and mutual co-operation among sovereign states in support of the indivisibility of security for all its members.

A Broad Approach to Security

The Alliance is committed to a broad approach to security, which recognises the importance of political, economic, social and environmental factors in addition to the indispensable defence dimension. This broad approach forms the basis for the Alliance to accomplish its fundamental security tasks effectively.

Fundamental Security Tasks

• Security: To provide one of the indispensable foundations for a stable Euro-Atlantic security environment.
• Consultation: To serve, as provided for in Article 4 of the Washington Treaty, as an essential transatlantic forum for Allied consultations.
• Deterrence and Defence: To deter and defend against any threat of aggression against any NATO member state as provided for in Articles 5 and 6 of the Washington Treaty.

And in order to enhance the security and stability of the Euro-Atlantic area:

• Crisis Management: To stand ready, case-by-case and by consensus, to contribute to effective conflict prevention and to engage actively in crisis management, including non-Article 5 crisis response operations.
• Partnership: To promote wide-ranging partnership, co-operation, and dialogue with other countries in the Euro-Atlantic area.

Guiding Principles

• The Alliance is purely defensive in purpose.
• The Alliance’s nuclear forces have a fundamentally political purpose: to preserve peace and prevent coercion. The supreme guarantee of the security of the Allies is provided by the strategic nuclear forces of the Alliance, particularly those of the United States; the independent nuclear forces of the United Kingdom and France, which have a deterrent role of their own, contribute to the overall deterrence and security of the Allies.
• The Alliance will maintain for the foreseeable future an appropriate mix of nuclear and conventional forces.
• The Alliance will remain open to new members.

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In fulfilling its purpose and fundamental security tasks, the Alliance will continue to respect the legitimate security interests of others, and to seek the peaceful resolution of disputes as set out in the Charter of the United Nations. The Alliance will promote peaceful and friendly international relations and support democratic institutions. The Alliance does not consider itself to be any country’s adversary.