NATOs Answers: Transformation

NATO itself also underwent a process of radical internal change to respond to the new security situation
in Europe.
In particular, it began to transform its military structures and forces to enable it to undertake crisis
management, peacekeeping and peacesupport tasks in cooperation with the new Partner countries.
Internal Restructuring

Strengthening the European Role

An essential part of the Alliances modernization

process was the restructuring of its military
forces and command arrangements. The military
forces of most NATO countries were then
significantly reduced and reorganized. New
concepts were introduced to give them greater
mobility and flexibility and to facilitate the
participation of nonNATO Partner countries in
NATO operations.

In 1994, the Alliance committed itself to

supporting the development of a much stronger
European Pillar (known as the European Security
and Defense Identity ESDI). Since then NATO
and the EU have made arrangements that will
allow the European Union to use NATO assets
and capabilities for EUled operations. This
enables the European allies to take greater
responsibility for European security affairs,
especially in circumstances in which the Alliance
as a whole will not be involved.

Developing New Partnerships

NATOs cooperative approach to security has resulted in the creation of close relations with nonNATO
countries through the EuroAtlantic Partnership Council (EAPC), the Partnership for Peace (PfP)
initiative, the NATORussia Council, the NATOUkraine Commission, the Mediterranean Dialogue and
the NATO South East European Initiative (SEEI). All these play an essential part in establishing the
multilateral and bilateral links which enable all the countries to enhance their own security while
contributing to the security of the EuroAtlantic area as a whole.

Main events outlining the NATO Transformation:

Prague Summit NRF
At Prague, the Heads of State and Government commit themselves to transforming
NATO with new members, new capabilities and new relations with partners.
In terms of capabilities, it was decided to create a NATO Response Force (NRF), to
streamline NATOs military command arrangements, to approve the Prague
Capabilities Commitment (PCC), to endorse the implementation of five nuclear,
biological and chemical weapons defense initiatives, to strengthen the capabilities
for defense against cyber attacks and to address the missile threat to the Alliance.
Regarding the new relations with partners, the Alliance reaffirmed its commitment to enhance NATO
EU cooperation, in order to achieve a genuine strategic partnership and decided to enhance
cooperation with the EAPC/PfP countries and to upgrade substantially the political and practical
dimensions of the Mediterranean Dialogue.
NATO Response Forces

Istanbul Summit ICI

At the Istanbul Summit, transformation was given further

substance and direction in order to adapt NATOs structures,
procedures and capabilities to 21st century challenges.
It was decided to push forward the transformation of military capabilities to make them more modern,
more usable and more deployable in order to carry out the full range of Alliance missions. In the field
of new relations with partners, the Heads of State and Government invited the Mediterranean partners
to establish a more ambitious and expanded partnership and also decided to offer cooperation to the
broader Middle East region by launching the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative (ICI).
Istanbul Cooperation Initiative
Riga Summit
At the November 2006 Riga Summit:

The Allies strengthened their commitment to fulfilling NATOs mission in Afghanistan.

Several Allied nations agreed to remove some caveats (restrictions on how, when and where
their national forces can be employed) and a number of Allies also pledged to send additional
forces and equipment to Afghanistan.

The Allies also agreed to deepen NATOs political engagement in Europe and beyond with new
partnership and consultation arrangements, including interested Partners and Contact
Countries.

The NATO Secretary General announced at Riga that the NATO Response Force, a key element
of the Alliances military transformation, is now fully operational.

Chicago Summit
NATO has already made concrete progress since the adoption of the new Strategic
Concept in ensuring NATO has the capabilities it needs to defend NATO members
citizens, conduct crisis management operations and foster cooperative security.

Summit
Declaration
Important accomplishments:
on Defense
Capabilities:
Interim ballistic missile defence capability.
Toward NATO
Highly sophisticated Alliance Ground Surveillance system.
Forces 2020

Extended air policing mission in the Baltic states.

New, leaner and more effective command structure.
Progress in developing a number of capabilities, identified in Lisbon as
critical to the successful conduct of operations, including: improving
defences against cyber attacks; extending NATOs air command and
control system; and augmenting capabilities in Afghanistan for
exchanging intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance data and
countering improvised explosive devices.
New Command Structure
Background on NATO Command Structure Review June 2011
The new NATO Command Structure will be effective, leaner and affordable. It will have an

overall strength of some 8,800 posts, and there will be a significant reduction in the current number
of headquarters. The new NATO Command Structure Peace Establishment will provide for a reduction
from the current figure of over 13000 to approximately 8800 posts. The new command structure will
consist of two Strategic Commands, (Operations and Transformation) and two Joint Force
Headquarters (JFHQs), each of which will be able for the first time in NATOs history to
deploy up to a major joint operation into theatre. It will also include one static air command, one
static maritime command and one static land command headquarters, two Combined Air
Operations Centers with a deployable air command and control element each and a
deployable air command and control center. There will also be a Communication and
Information Systems Group to provide communication and information systems (CIS) support for
the NATO Command Structure. Finally, as part of the wider command arrangements Striking Force
NATO (STRIKFORNATO) will be moved to Portugal from Italy. Furthermore, the NATO CIS
(Communications and Information Systems) School will also be moved from Italy to Portugal. The
review of the current NATO Command Structure was conducted under the important assumptions that
the NATO level of ambition will remain the same and that the Alliance will maintain robust command
and control and rapidly deployable military capabilities. During their review of the current NATO
Command Structure, NATO experts took into consideration a its core functions, such as Planning of
Operations, Conduct of Operations, Development and Transformation and Support Activities.
Beside core functions, the assessment took into account a number of key principles such as the ability
to conduct Article 5 operations, deployability and sustainability, but also the Alliance cohesion. Also,
military, geostrategic and resources factors were taken into account. Furthermore, the requirement
for a close relationship and an increased interaction between NATO headquarters and national
headquarters has been considered. Ultimately, the overall geographic footprint provides for a flexible,
lean, affordable new structure that is able to provide an operational command and control capability
that is truly multinational and genuinely deployable.
Smart Defense
In these times of austerity, each euro, dollar or pound
sterling counts. Smart defence is a new way of thinking about
generating the modern defence capabilities the Alliance needs
for the coming decade and beyond. It is a renewed culture of
cooperation that encourages Allies to cooperate in
developing, acquiring and maintaining military capabilities to
undertake the Alliances essential core tasks agreed in the
new NATO strategic concept. That means pooling and sharing
capabilities, setting priorities and coordinating efforts better.