Summit Guide - NATO

Summit GuideLisbon Summit - 19-20 November 2010NATO’s 24th summit meetingAt the Lisbon Summit, NATO will be presenting its third Strategic Concept since the end of theCold War, defining the Alliance’s strategic priorities for the next decade.While reaffirming the commitment of its members to fundamental principles and reviewing policiesand objectives, the process of reflection on the 2010 Strategic Concept has also triggered offmajor reform throughout the entire Organization.The summit agenda is ambitious. The new Strategic Concept will focus on collective defence anddeterrence, crisis management and cooperative security. Other issues to be examined will bemissile defence, progress on transition in Afghanistan, relations with Russia and a comprehensiveapproach to security challenges that will call for greater cooperation with partners. A new “criticalcapabilities package” will be presented, together with a new acquisition process; the reform of themilitary command structure and of NATO Agencies will be taken forward, while change is pursuedat the civilian headquarters in Brussels.NATO is involved in a wide spectrum of other issues, which are covered in the “A to Z”.Previous summit meetingsThe Alliance’s vision for Euro-Atlantic security and NATO reformWhile setting the scene for the next decade, the Strategic Concept is stimulating change at a timeof considerable resource constraint, with the aim of modernizing and reinforcing NATO’scapabilities.The Strategic ConceptEven though the new Strategic Concept will only be made public on the day of the Lisbon Summit,it is important to understand the genesis of the 2010 document.Strategic ConceptCollective defenceCrisis managementConsultation processComprehensive ApproachInternal reformOne of the tools for change is structural reform, touching on the military command structure,organizations and agencies, committees and staff at NATO Headquarters, Brussels.NATO reformMilitary organization and structuresAllied Command OperationsAllied Command TransformationWorking by committeeAgencies and OrganizationsPaying for NATO

Defence transformation and arms controlCapabilities can drive change and are a key component of discussions on operations and missions.In this context, a new capabilities package will be presented at Lisbon, together with NATO’sambitions on missile defence, nuclear forces and arms control, disarmament and non-proliferation.Additionally, the procedures needed to acquire and manage capabilities are being reformed toencourage multinationality, greater coordination and a functionally integrated approach to defenceplanning and procurement. Procedures, together with structures, are among NATO’s principal toolsfor change.Improving capabilitiesMissile defenceNATO’s Nuclear forcesWeapons of mass destructionNATO and the fight against terrorismDefending against cyber attacksNATO’s role in energy securityArms control, disarmament and non-proliferationConventional arms controlSmall arms and light weapons (SALW) and mine actionThe NATO Defence Planning ProcessCrisis managementCrisis management is, and will remain, one of NATO's fundamental security tasks.Current operational priorities – Afghanistan in transitionAfghanistan and pressing issues related to the progress of the International Stabilization andAssistance Force (ISAF) will dominate discussions in Lisbon.NATO’s role in AfghanistanOther NATO operations and missionsNATO leads other operations and missions: KFOR, counter-piracy off the Horn of Africa, OperationActive Endeavour in the Mediterranean, the NATO Training Mission-Iraq (NTM-I), assistance to theAfrican Union, all of which are briefly explained in the introduction to military operations below:NATO operations and missionsNATO’s role in KosovoCounter-piracy operationsCooperative securityWhile it is seeking to reinforce existing partnerships, encourage Euro-Atlantic integration and drivefor greater cooperation with non-NATO troop-contributing countries, the Alliance is also working ondeveloping closer institutional ties with other international organizations.Comprehensive ApproachNATO’s relations with the UNEU-NATO: a strategic partnershipBoosting relations with RussiaRussia is a pivotal partner and NATO’s relations with this country will be discussed within theframework of the 2010 Strategic Concept. The NATO-Russia Summit is also expected to discussthe Joint Threat Assessment and missile defence, amongst other issues.NATO-Russia relations

Partnerships and Euro-Atlantic integrationNATO is reinforcing its partnerships and relations with others countries, envisaging a moreinclusive, cooperative network with countries around the globe.Partnerships with non-NATO countriesEuro-Atlantic partnershipMediterranean DialogueIstanbul Cooperation InitiativeContact countriesNATO enlargementMembership Action PlanFacts and figuresMember countriesPartner countriesDefence expendituresTroop contributionsCommitments to operations and missions

NATO summit meetingsNATO summit meetings provide periodicopportunities for Heads of State andGovernment of member countries toevaluate and provide strategic directionfor Alliance activities.These are not regular meetings, but ratherimportant junctures in the Alliance’s decisionmaking process. For instance, summits havebeen used to introduce new policy, invite newmembers into the Alliance, launch major new initiatives and build partnerships with non-NATOcountries.From the founding of NATO in 1949 until today there have been twenty-three NATO summits. The24th will take place in Lisbon on 19-20 November 2010.Summit meeting agendasTiming and locationPrevious summit meetingsOrganizing and holding these eventsParticipationSummit meeting agendasNATO summit meetings are effectively meetings of the North Atlantic Council (NAC) - theAlliance’s principal political decision-making body - at its highest level, that of Heads of State andGovernment.Due to the political significance of summit meetings, agenda items typically address issues ofoverarching political or strategic importance. Items can relate to the internal functioning of theAlliance as well as NATO’s relations with external partners.Major decisionsMany of NATO’s summit meetings can be considered as milestones in the evolution of the Alliance.For instance, the first post-Cold War summit was held in London, 1990, and outlined proposals fordeveloping relations with Central and Eastern European countries. A year later, in Rome, NATOHeads of State and Government published a new Strategic Concept that reflected the new securityenvironment. This document was issued as a public document for the first time ever. At the samesummit, NATO established the North Atlantic Cooperation Council – a forum that officially broughttogether NATO and partner countries from Europe, Central Asia, and the Caucasus.The 1997 Madrid and Paris Summits invited the first countries of the former Warsaw Pact – CzechRepublic, Hungary and Poland – to join NATO, and established partnerships between NATO andRussia and Ukraine, while the 2002 Prague Summit saw major commitments to improving NATO’scapabilities and transformed the military command structure.These are just a few of the many decisions that have been taken over the decades (a full summaryof all NATO summit meetings can be found under “Previous summit meetings”).Implementation of summit decisionsTypically, the decisions taken at a summit meeting are issued in declarations and communiqués.These are public documents that explain the Alliance's decisions and reaffirm Allies’ support for

aspects of NATO policies.The decisions are then translated into action by the relevant actors, according to the area ofcompetency and responsibility: the NAC’s subordinate committees and NATO’s commandstructure, which cover the whole range of NATO functions and activities.Timing and locationTimingSummits are convened upon approval by the NAC at the level of Permanent Representatives (orAmbassadors) or foreign and defence ministers. They are usually called on an ad hoc basis, asrequired by the evolving political and security situation.From the founding of NATO until the end of the Cold War – over forty years – there were tensummit meetings. Since1990, their frequency has increased considerably in order to address thechanges brought on by the new security challenges. In total, twenty-three summit meetings havetaken place between 1949 and 2009.LocationNATO summit meetings are held in one of the member countries, including Belgium, at NATO HQ.Members volunteer to host a summit meeting and, after evaluating all offers, the NAC makes thefinal decision concerning the location.In recent years, summit locations have held some thematic significance. For example, theWashington Summit of 1999 commemorated the fiftieth anniversary of the signing of the NorthAtlantic Treaty in that city. Istanbul – which hosted a summit meeting in 2004 – connects Europeand Asia and is where the Alliance launched the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative. This initiative isintended to foster linkages between NATO and the broader Middle East.Previous summit meetingsThe first time that Heads of State and Government from NATO countries met was at the actualsigning ceremony of the North Atlantic Treaty on 4 April 1949, but this was not a summit meeting.The first summit meeting was held six years later, in Paris in 1957, and subsequent summitsoccurred at key junctures in the history of the Alliance.Paris, 16-19 December 1957Reaffirmation of the principal purposes and unity of the Atlantic Alliance; Improvements in thecoordination and organization of NATO forces and in political consultation arrangements;Recognition of the need for closer economic ties and for cooperation in the spirit of Article 2 of theTreaty, designed to eliminate conflict in international policies and encourage economiccollaboration (Report of the Committee of the Three on Non-Military Cooperation in NATO, the socalled report of the Three Wise Men).Brussels, 26 June 1974Signature of the Declaration on Atlantic Relations adopted by NATO foreign ministers in Ottawa on19 June, confirming the dedication of member countries of the Alliance to the aims and ideals ofthe Treaty in the 25th anniversary of its signature; Consultations on East-West relations inpreparation for US-USSR summit talks on strategic nuclear arms limitations.Brussels, 29-30 May 1975Affirmation of the fundamental importance of the Alliance and of Allied cohesion in the face ofinternational economic pressures following the 1974 oil crisis; Support for successful conclusion ofnegotiations in the framework of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) (toresult in 1975, in the signing of the Helsinki Final Act).London, 10-11 May 1977Initiation of study on long-term trends in East-West relations and of a long-term defenceprogramme (LTDP) aimed at improving the defensive capability of NATO member countries.