NATO 2012 Chicago Summit Guide NATO’s 25th summit meeting Chicago, 20-21 May 2012 At the Chicago Summit, 20-21 May 2012, NATO will drive forward key Alliance principles and policies that will shape the Alliance of 2020 and beyond. It will deliver on decisions taken at the Lisbon Summit in November 2010, turning them into concrete programmes and initiatives. Allies will commit to maintain the necessary capabilities and to developing cooperation and dialogue with partners. And at a time of austerity, it will be a question of striking the right balance between fulfilling NATO’s shared responsibilities and balancing national budgets. The summit will principally focus on three main themes: the Alliance's commitment to Afghanistan through transition and beyond; ensuring the Alliance has the capabilities it needs to defend its population and territory and to deal with the challenges of the 21st century; and strengthening NATO's network of partners across the globe. NATO is an essential source of stability. In order to maintain its capacity to safeguard the security and values of its members, it needs to continue developing the means to do so and building partnerships beyond the North Atlantic region. For more information on Alliance policies and activities, please check the online “A to Z” pages of the NATO website. Previous summit meetings Member countries NATO partners I. Operational priorities Afghanistan – through transition and beyond NATO is committed to supporting Afghanistan beyond 2014, when the gradual transition of security responsibility from ISAF troops to Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) will be fully implemented and the ISAF mission will come to a close. Until then, and as transition implementation progresses, the ISAF mission is evolving from a combat to a support role. In 2013, when the last tranche of transition is expected to be announced, the ANSF will be in the lead for combat operations across the country. ISAF will increasingly shift to a training and advising role, but continue to support combat operations alongside Afghan forces, as necessary. Archived material - Information valid up to May 2012 Page 2 NATO 2012 Chicago Summit Guide At Chicago, leaders will map out how NATO intends to complete the transition process by end-2014. They will also agree on how NATO will provide training, advice and assistance to the ANSF, and will demonstrate their commitment to sustaining the ANSF beyond 2014, as part of the Afghan government’s and the broader international community’s efforts. NATO in Afghanistan NATO in Afghanistan: through transition and beyond ISAF’s mission in Afghanistan Other operational priorities NATO is also engaged in other operations and missions, all of which are explained below. NATO operations and missions NATO’s role in Kosovo Counter-piracy operations Operation Active Endeavour NATO assistance to the African Union Commitments to operations and missions Troop contributions II. Developing capabilities under budgetary constraints At a time of austerity NATO is also seeking to ensure better value for money for its security. With the financial crisis in Europe and beyond, severe deficit reduction measures in the United States and increased pressure on defence budgets, NATO’s added value is to help countries work together. NATO has the capacity to connect forces and manage multinational projects. This is one of its strengths. However, the challenge is having to prepare NATO today, for the security challenges of tomorrow. “Smart defence” In Chicago, Allies will support new multinational projects that will allow the Alliance to provide more security for its citizens in an age of financial austerity. The goal is an Alliance that is fit for the next decade and beyond. The way to get there is confirming a renewed culture of cooperation – “smart defence”. Projects in the spirit of Smart Defence will comprise a package of multinational projects to address critical capability shortfalls. They will include programmes such as as missile defence, Alliance Ground Surveillance (AGS) and Joint Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance as well as Archived material - Information valid up to May 2012 Page 3 NATO 2012 Chicago Summit Guide projects covering areas such as pooling maritime patrol aircraft and remote-controlled robots for clearing roadside bombs. Smart defence Interoperability: connecting NATO forces NATO defence planning process Education and training Exercises Improving NATO’s capabilities Ballistic missile defence NATO air defence Defending against cyber attacks NATO and the fight against terrorism Alliance Ground Surveillance Improving NATO’s strategic air- and sea-lift capabilities AWACS Reviewing NATO’s defence and deterrence posture At Chicago, heads of state and government will also examine NATO’s mix of conventional, nuclear and missile defence forces, known as NATO’s Defence and Deterrence Posture Review. This was mandated at the Lisbon Summit. This review will allow NATO to check its overall posture in deterring and defending against the full range of threats to the Alliance, taking into account the changes in the evolving international security environment. NATO’s nuclear forces Arms control, disarmament and non-proliferation in NATO Seeking to optimise assets Being able to put together complex joint operations at short notice is a priority for the Alliance. To do this at a time of crisis, NATO is seeking to reform its structures and processes to get a better return on investment. This means introducing change now in order to have flexible, deployable forces, and the right mix of capabilities at hand in ten years’ time. Paying for NATO Information on defence expenditures NATO reform Organisations and agencies International Staff International Military Staff Archived material - Information valid up to May 2012 Page 4 NATO 2012 Chicago Summit Guide III. Greater flexibility with partners Chicago will be an opportunity for Allies to deepen existing relations and broaden its networks of partnerships. The summit will therefore give a new impetus to partnerships, highlighting their integral role in NATO’s peace support and crisis-management operations and overall political agenda. Heads of state and government will also focus on engaging other organisations in addressing global challenges. Partnerships: a cooperative approach to security Partnership tools NATO-Russia relations NATO-Ukraine relations NATO-Georgia relations Mediterranean Dialogue Istanbul Cooperation Initiative NATO’s relations with partners across the globe NATO enlargement Membership Action Plan (MAP) NATO’s relations with the UN NATO-EU: a strategic partnership NATO summit meetings NATO summit meetings provide periodic opportunities for Heads of State and Government of member countries to evaluate and provide strategic direction for Alliance activities. These are not regular meetings, but rather important junctures in the Alliance’s decision-making process. For instance, summits have been used to introduce new policy, invite new members into the Alliance, launch major new initiatives and build partnerships with non-NATO countries. Archived material - Information valid up to May 2012 Page 5 NATO 2012 Chicago Summit Guide From the founding of NATO in 1949 until today there have been twenty-four NATO summits. The 25th is taking place in Chicago, United States, 20-21 May 2012. Summit meeting agendas NATO summit meetings are effectively meetings of the North Atlantic Council (NAC) - the Alliance’s principal political decision-making body - at its highest level, that of Heads of State and Government. Due to the political significance of summit meetings, agenda items typically address issues of overarching political or strategic importance. Items can relate to the internal functioning of the Alliance as well as NATO’s relations with external partners. Major decisions Many 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 for developing relations with Central and Eastern European countries. A year later, in Rome, NATO Heads of State and Government published a new Strategic Concept that reflected the new security environment. This document was issued as a public document for the first time ever. At the same summit, NATO established the North Atlantic Cooperation Council – a forum that officially brought together 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 – Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland – to join NATO, and established partnerships between NATO and Russia and Ukraine, while the 2002 Prague Summit saw major commitments to improving NATO’s capabilities and transformed the military command structure. These are just a few of the many decisions that have been taken over the decades (a full summary of all NATO summit meetings can be found under “Previous summit meetings”). Implementation of summit decisions Typically, 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 of competency and responsibility: the NAC’s subordinate committees and NATO’s command structure, which cover the whole