NATO HANDBOOK October 1995 NATO OFFICE OF INFORMATION AND PR ESS BRUSSELS Reprinted edition, with amendments. NORTH ATLANTIC TREA TY ORGANISA TION {NATO) The North Atlantic Treaty, signed in Washington on 4 April 1949, created an Alliance for collective defence as defined in Article 51 of the United Nations Charter. The Alliance links 14 European countries with the United States and Canada. MEMBER COUNTRIES Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States. The NATO Emblem, which appears on the cover of this book, was adopted as the symbol of the Atlantic Alliance by the North Atlantic Council in October 1953. The circle is the symbol of unity and cooperation and the compass rose suggests the common road to peace taken by the 16 member countries of the Atlantic Alliance. 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS page PREFACE 11 What is NATO? 17 The Fundamental Tasks of the Alliance 18 Origins of the Alliance 20 NATO Today 21 PART I - THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE ALLIANCE The Foundations of Eu rope’s New Security Environment 31 Security Architecture - A Broad Approach 39 The Alliance’s Strategic Concept 40 The North Atlantic Cooperation Council (NACC) 43 Partnership for Peace 50 NATO’s Role in Peacekeeping 58 Alliance Interaction with the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)1 69 The European Security and Defence Identity 72 Arms Control 74 The Challenge of Proliferation 82 The Mediterranean 88 PART II - HOW NATO WORKS The Machinery of NATO 93 The Machinery of Cooperation 103 Fundamental Operating Principles 105 Joint Decision-Making 105 Political Consultation 107 Crisis Management 110 The Defence Dimension 111 Nuclear Policy 113 Economic Cooperation 114 Public Information 117 The NATO Security Investment Programme (Common Infrastructure) 119 ' Formerly CSCE. 5 Logisti c Support 120 Armaments Cooperation 121 Armaments Planning 123 Standardization 123 Communications and Information Systems 125 Air Defence 125 Civil Emergency Planning 127 Civil and Military Coordination of Air Traffic Management 129 Scientific Cooperation and Environmental Challenges 130 PART III - ORGA N ISATION AN D STRUCTURES NATO Headquarters 137 Permanent Representatives and National Delegations 137 The International Staff 137 The Secretary General 139 Private Office 139 Office of the Secretary General 140 Executive Secretarial 140 Office oflnformation and Press 141 N ATO Office of Security 141 Division of Political Affairs 142 Political Directorate 142 Economics Directorate 144 Division of Defence Planning and Policy 144 Force Planning Directorate 144 Nuclear Planning Directorate 145 Division of Defence Support 145 Policy and Coordination Staff 146 Directorate of Armaments Planning, Programmes and Research 146 Directorate of Command, Control and Communications 147 Directorate of Air Defence Systems 147 Division of Infrastructure, Logistics and Civil Emergency Planning 148 Infrastructure Directorate 148 Logistics Directorate 148 Civil Emergency Planning Directorate 149 Division of Scientific and Environmental Affairs 150 Office of Management 151 6 Office of Financial Control 151 Office of the Chairman of the B udget Committees 151 International Board of A uditors 152 New Structures 152 Production and Logistics Organisations 153 National Military Representatives 155 The Military Committee 155 International Military Staff 156 Organisation of the International Military Staff 157 The Role of Allied Military Forces 161 New Force Structures 163 Force Reductions 164 Characteristics of Military Forces under the New Force Structure 165 Composition of Forces 165 Availability and Readiness of Forces 167 NATO’s Integrated Command Structure 168 The Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) 169 Allied Command Europe (ACE) 170 ACE Reaction Forces Planning Staff (ARFPS) 173 The Reaction Forces Air Staff (RFAS) 173 NATO Airborne Early Warning Force (NAEWF) 173 The ACE Rapid Reaction Corps (ARRC) 174 Immediate Reaction Forces (Maritime) 175 The ACE Mobile Force (AMF) 176 The Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic (SACLANT) 177 Allied Command Atlantic (ACLANT) 177 Canada-US Regional Planning Group 178 Military Agencies and Organisations 179 Advisory Group for Aerospace Research and Development (AGARD) 179 Military Agency for Standardization (MAS) 179 NATO Electronic Warfare Advisory Committee (NEWAC) 179 NATO Training Group (NTG) 180 Committee of the Chiefs of Military Medical Services in NATO (COMEDS) 180 Military Committee Meteorological Group (MCMG) 180 Military Telecommunications and CIS Agencies 180 SHAPE Technical Centre (STC) 181 SACLANT Undersea Research Centre (SACLANTCEN) 181 7 NATO Defense College 182 The NATO (SHAPE) School 182 NATO Communications and Information Systems (CIS) School 184 PART IV - THE WIDER INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)2 187 The European Union ( EU) 192 The Western European Union (WEU) ' 196 The EUROGROUP and the Independent European Programme Group (IEPG) 203 The Council of Europe 203 PART V - NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANISATIONS North Atlantic Assembly (NAA) 207 Atlantic Treaty Association (ATA) 210 Interallied Co nfederation of Reserve Officers (CIOR) 212 APPENDICES APPENDIX I Members of the North Atlantic Council 2 19 APPENDIX II Secretaries General of NATO 221 APPENDIX III Members of the Military Committee 223 APPENDIX IV Principal Officials of the NATO International Staff 225 APPENDIX V Major NATO Commanders 227 APPENDIX VI Principal Officials of the NATO International Military Staff 227 APPENDIX VII Principal NATO Agencies 229 APPENDIX VIII The North Atlantic Treaty 231 APPENDIX IX The Alliance’s Strategic Concept 235 - Formerly CSCE. 8 APPENDIX X NACC Wo rk Plan fo r Dialogue, Partnership and Coope ration (1994/1995) 249 APPENDIX XI Partnership fo r Peace Invitation 265 Partnership fo r Peace Framework Document 266 APPENDIX XII Declaration of the Heads of State and Government participating in the Meeting of the North Atlantic Council held at NATO Headquarters, Brussels, on 10-11 January 1994 269 APPENDIX XIII Key Arms Control Treaties and Agreements ( 1963-1994) 277 APPENDIX XIV Abbreviations in Common Use 283 APPENDIX XV Chronology of Events ( 1945-1994) 295 APPENDIX XVI Financial and Economic Data Relating to Defence 353 The NATO Integrated Data Service (NIDS) 367 LIST OF ILLUSTRATION S NATO’s Civil and Military Structure 95 Principal NATO Committees 97 Principal NATO Committees addressing NACC and PFP activities 101 NATO International Staff 138 Divisions of the International Staff 143 NATO Military Structure 159 NATO International Military Staff 159 9 PREFACE In 1989 the world witnessed the beginning of a process of fundamental political change in East-West relations in­ cluding the dismantling of the Berlin Wall, the disappear­ ance of one-party Communist states throughout Central and Eastern Europe, the establishment of free and inde­ pendent states in the republics of the former Soviet Union, and the end of the division of Europe. The role played by the North Atlantic Alliance, from its establish­ ment in 1949 to the end of the Cold War four decades later, was fundamental in bringing about the conditions which made these developments possible. As the instru­ ment for guaranteeing the security, freedom and independ­ ence of its members, maintaining a strategic balance in Europe and promoting democratic values and the emer­ gence of European democratic institutions, the Alliance created the stability which was the precondition for bring­ ing an end to the adversarial relationship between East and West. The advent of these momentous events and of the trans­ formation of the security environment has had a profound impact on the North Atlantic Alliance. Marking the end of the political, ideological and military confrontation between East and West which characterised the Cold War years, it has enabled the Alliance to reorient its policies, maintaining its core function of ensuring the security of its member states while pursuing its long-stand­ ing political goal of establishing a just and lasting peaceful order in Europe. In addition to heralding a new era in international relations of world-wide significance, the end of the Cold War has enabled the Alliance to make major reductions in the levels of its armed forces and in aspects of their readiness and deployment. It has also resulted in a number of new or much expanded tasks for the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation. These include establishing a process of dialogue, cooperation and partnership with the states of Central and Eastern Europe and with those 11 states which gained independence ofollwing the dissolu­ tion of the Soviet Union, as well as with other countries belonging to the Organisation for Security and Coopera­ tion in Europe (OSCE)1; developing a close working relationship with the OSCE and with other international institutions, notably the United Nations, the European Union and the Western European Union; and introducing new military command and force structures reflecting the changed strategic environment. In the follow-up to the July 1990 London Declaration on a Transformed North Atlantic Alliance, the November 1991 Rome Declaration on Peace and Cooperation and the publication of the Alliance’s new Strategic Concept, consultations among member countries of NATO contin­ ued to focus on the future structure and organisation of the Alliance in the light of major strategic change, decreas­ ing resources for