The Soviet Union still existed and still had powerful nuclear and non-nuclear military forces, but virtually everything else had changed.

Democratic governments were emerging across Central and Eastern Europe; the terms on which Germany would be unified had been negotiated; the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe had been signed; the Warsaw Pact had been disbanded; a coup against the reforming Soviet leader Gorbachev had been defeated, and governments in Poland, Hungary and Czechoslovakia had expressed their wish to be included in NATO activities.

The 1991 concept stated that NATO’s policies and forces should be adapted in the light of these remarkable changes. But the Allies also reaffirmed some elements of continuity. NATO’s fundamental purpose, they declared, was to defend its members against attack. NATO’s integrated command structure and cooperative approach to defence remained essential to the interests of the members. The transatlantic link between Europe and the United States and Canada remained vital to NATO’s future relevance. Defence of democracy, human rights and the rule of law still constituted the heart and soul of the Alliance. However Allied leaders noted that, even with all the positive changes, the world remained a dangerous place. NATO would be essential to deal with continuing risks and uncertainties. Moreover the North Atlantic Treaty, in addition to providing for collective defence, included a mandate to consult together to deal with threats to the security interests of the members, not just an attack on one of them.

At the 1991 Summit Meeting in Rome, the Allies established three areas of particular emphasis for future NATO policies. First, as part of a broader approach to security, they would actively seek cooperation and dialogue with all European states, and particularly with the former Warsaw Pact countries. Second, NATO’s nuclear and non-nuclear military forces would be reduced, and the remaining forces would be restructured to take into account the need for forces able to handle crisis management tasks (like the ones that later developed in the Balkans, in the wake of the conflicts in Bosnia-Herzegovina and in Kosovo) as well as collective defence. Third, European members of NATO would assume greater responsibility for their own security. These concepts were the inspiration behind NATO initiatives throughout the 1990s. The Allies dramatically reduced and streamlined both their forces and NATO’s command structure. More emphasis was placed on the ability to deploy military forces beyond NATO borders in response to new security challenges. Several initiatives translated the Alliance’s goal of promoting dialogue and cooperation into practical measures - the creation of the North Atlantic Cooperation Council and it successor, the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council; the introduction of the Partnership for Peace; the establishment of the Permanent Joint Council with Russia; the development of a new partnership with Ukraine; and the open door policy on NATO enlargement.