The signing of the North Atlantic Treaty in Washington on the 4th of April 1949 founded the Atlantic Alliance. NATO's role is to safeguard the freedom and security of all its members by political and military means, to uphold the values of democracy, human rights and the rule of law and to contribute to peace and stability in the world.
The break-up of the USSR which began in 1991 brought NATO's initial role to an end. Nevertheless, NATO managed to adapt to this change to remain an essential pillar for the security of its members.
The 2010 Strategic Concept is the public expression of the Alliance's policy and the second reference text after the Washington Treaty. The first concept was drafted in 1991 and then updated in 1999 and 2010. This document is the global framework for all NATO activities.
NATO's approach is based on a global definition of security which recognises the importance of political, economic, social and environmental factors in addition to purely defence issues, without undermining either its main role as a military organisation or the role of other international organisations. Respect for the need for consensus in its decision-making process has underpinned its longevity: all decisions are taken on the basis of unanimity among member states for subsequent application by the Alliance's Command Structure (NCS).
Since 1949, the Alliance has gradually expanded from 12 to 18 member states.
| 1949 | Washington Treaty | France, United Kingdom, Belgium, The Netherlands, Luxemburg, United States, Canada, Italy, Iceland, Denmark, Norway, Portugal |
| 1952 | 14 members | Greece, Turkey |
| 1955 | 15 members | FRG |
| 1982 | 16 members | Spain |
| 1999 | 19 members | Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland |
| 2004 | 26 members | Bulgaria, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia |
| 2008 | 28 members | Albania, Croatia |
Since the end of the cold war, France has consistently been one of the main contributors of troops to NATO operations, with a high level of quality and availability of its forces.
Within the North Atlantic Council, NATO's key decision-making body, it is the nation states which lay down the political guidelines for all of the Alliance's military operations. The command and running of these operations is then handed to the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) located in Mons (Belgium), which must nevertheless report to the North Atlantic Council every six months on the operations' progress and results, thereby enabling the nation states to retain solid political control.
The transformation of NATO reflects a cultural and institutional change dictated by the Alliance's need to have in place joint and multinational armed forces which can be deployed anywhere at any time and which are interoperable at every level. This transformation affects conceptual and capacity areas.
NATO must also identify the new capacities which are needed to undertake its missions, develop modern and innovative solutions and implement these changes as part of a coherent, flexible and responsive defence planning process.