NATO Handbook [antikvár]

Preface , I IJ NATO was created through the signing of the Washington Treaty in 1949. i ¦ The treaty, a model of brevity and clarity, paved the way for the Alliance's adap-tation to the constantly changing dynamic of international security. It provides f ' built-in flexibility and scope for tackling new problems and applying solutions to them that reflect the changing environment. In Article 9, the drafters provided a I ' flexible organisational structure for the Alliance based on a single, authoritative institutional body in the form of a Council responsible for the implementation of the treaty and for the creation of such subsidiary bodies as might be necessary. This foresight has enabled the Alliance to evolve and to adapt itself to new circumstances throughout its history. NATO underwent a series of reforms and reorganisations during the first forty years of its existence, designed to adapt it to the occasional opportunities that presented themselves to move beyond Cold War constraints in order to place the security of member countries on a more positive and stable foundation. In the relatively short period since the end of the Cold War, the Alliance has undergone a process of much more fundamental transformation, adapting to changes in the security environment of a scope and intensity that few could have foreseen in earlier years. It was in the 1990s that NATO first responded to the end of the familiar East-West division and its accompanying ideological, political and military adversarial relationships, and to the disappearance of conventional military threats to security in the Euro-Atlantic area. The Alliance defined a new strategic concept, embarked on intensive partnerships with other countries, including former adversaries, and embraced new member countries. In addition, and for the first time, NATO undertook peacekeeping tasks in areas of conflict outside ' the Alliance, opening the way for a lead role in multinational crisis-management operations and extensive cooperative arrangements with other organisations. , The 11 September 2001 attacks on the United States placed the fight against terrorism at the top of the international agenda, including that of NATO. j' As a result, the transformation process that characterised the first ten years after the end of the Cold War era took on a more coherent dimension and i greater urgency. | Today, the Alliance's response to the new, post-September 11 security i environment is based on a clear set of principles agreed upon by member j' governments. The Allies agree that they must be ready to help to deter, defend, disrupt and protect themselves collectively against terrorist attacks from abroad and that this may include taking action against terrorists and against those who harbour or protect them. They also agree that the Alliance '