The Strategic Concept equips the Alliance for the security challenges and opportunities of the 21st century and guides its future political and military development.

The concrete accomplishments of the Summit - in the form of decisions and programmes – set the stage for the Alliance to enter the 21st century. While recognising that the Euro-Atlantic security climate had changed dramatically over the last ten years, the Strategic Concept also acknowledged “the appearance of complex new risks to Euro-Atlantic peace and stability, including oppression, ethnic conflict, economic distress, the collapse of political order, and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.” It set out the Alliance's purposes and tasks for the future and reflected the resolve of Alliance member countries to maintain an “adequate military capability and clear preparedness to act collectively in the common defence….”

An important feature of the transforming military posture of NATO is the development of the European Security and Defence Identity (ESDI) within the Alliance. At the Washington Summit, Alliance leaders welcomed the progress achieved so far and called for continuing work to make ESDI a reality.

NATO also launched an important Defence Capabilities Initiative, designed to help Alliance military forces become more mobile, interoperable, sustainable and effective. This is a critical area of cooperation within the Alliance on which increasing emphasis will be placed in the coming years. Similarly, the Alliance has introduced changes in the integrated military command structure reflecting the transformed security environment. These changes will allow NATO to carry out its operations more efficiently.

The Washington Summit Communiqué outlines another new Alliance initiative on Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD). NATO’s principal aim with regard to these weapons is to “prevent proliferation from occurring, or, should it occur, to reverse it through diplomatic means.”

In order to respond more effectively to the challenges of proliferation, NATO has established a WMD Centre at NATO Headquarters. The Centre will coordinate an integrated political-military approach to the following tasks: encouraging debate and understanding of WMD issues in NATO; enhancing existing programmes to increase military readiness to operate in a WMD environment; and increasing the exchange of information on WMD destruction assistance programmes among allied countries.

Even as they welcomed three new members to their first Summit, NATO leaders emphasised that the door would remain open to others and, as a practical manifestation of the Open Door policy, unveiled a Membership Action Plan (MAP).