NATO 2010 Strategic Concept

“Active Engagement, Modern Defence” Lisbon, Portugal - 19-20 November 2010

This Strategic Concept will guide the next phase in NATO’s evolution, so that the Alliance can continue to be effective in a changing world, against new threats, with new capabilities and new partners.

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Core Tasks and Principles

1. Collective Defence: The Alliance’s most important responsibility is to protect and defend our territory and our populations against attack, as set out in Article 5 of the Washington Treaty. No-one should doubt NATO’s resolve if the security of any of its members were to be threatened.

2. Crisis Management: Crises and conflicts beyond NATO’s borders can pose a direct threat to the security of the Alliance’s territory and populations. NATO will therefore engage, where possible and when necessary, to prevent crises, manage conflicts and stabilize post-conflict situations.

3. Cooperative Security: The Alliance will also work to enhance international security through partnership with relevant countries and other international organisations. We will contribute to arms control, non-proliferation and disarmament, and we will keep the door to membership in the Alliance open to all European democracies that meet the standards of membership.

Defence and Deterrence

We are determined to ensure that NATO has the full range of capabilities necessary to deter and defend against any threat to the safety of our populations and the security of our territory. Therefore, we will:

• Maintain an appropriate mix of nuclear and conventional forces.
• Maintain the ability to sustain concurrent major joint operations and smaller operations for collective defence and crisis response.
• Develop and maintain robust, mobile and deployable conventional forces.
• Develop the capability to defend our populations and territories against ballistic missile attack as a core element of our collective defence.
• Enhance our capacity to defend against the threat of chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear weapons.
• Enhance our capacity to detect and defend against international terrorism.
• Enhance our capacity to detect and defend against cyber attacks.
• Develop our capacity to contribute to energy security.

A Commitment to Reform

• We will engage in a process of continual reform, to streamline structures, improve working methods and maximise efficiency.
• We will ensure that our Alliance is able to meet the challenges of the future.

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NATO is a unique community of values, committed to the principles of individual liberty, democracy, human rights and the rule of law. The Alliance is firmly committed to the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations, and to the Washington Treaty, which affirms the primary responsibility of the Security Council for the maintenance of international peace and security.