In other respects, too, the 1991 Strategic Concept differed dramatically from its predecessors: it was issued as a public document, open for discussion and comment by parliaments, security specialists, journalists and the wider public.

In 1997, NATO leaders agreed that the Concept should be re-examined and updated to reflect the changes that had taken place in Europe since its adoption, while confirming the Allies’ commitment to collective defence and the transatlantic link and ensuring that NATO strategy remained fully adapted to the challenges of the 21st century. Intensive work was undertaken throughout the Alliance, to conclude the work by the time of the Washington Summit in April 1999.

In common with all other Alliance business, the approval of the Concept required consensus on both the substance and the language of the document by all the member countries of the Alliance. In view of the prospective accession of their countries, representatives of the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland were also present from the outset of the discussions.


THE NAC-C: NATO's FIRST FORMAL OUTREACH TO THE EAST

By 1990 NATO had already established as one of its goals, reaching out to former adversaries in a process of extended security cooperation. In December 1991, the NATO Allies decided to take the process further by creating an overall framework for that cooperation. They established the North Atlantic Cooperation Council, known as the NAC-C, to distinguish it from the North Atlantic Council, or NAC, which is NATO’s key decision-making body. The goal of the NAC-C was to provide a forum in which NATO countries could meet with those of Central and Eastern Europe and with the newly independent states which emerged from the former Soviet Union, including Russia. The first meeting of the NAC-C took place on December 20, 1991, bringing the NATO Allies together with six other countries. During the course of the meeting, it was learned that the Soviet Union had ceased to exist. At the request of the ambassador of the Russian Federation, a footnote to the press release issued that day recorded the fact. Henceforth Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and all the other states which had been incorporated into the former USSR would be independent countries. In succeeding years virtually every qualified European state joined the North Atlantic Cooperation Council. Countries traditionally regarded as neutral, such as Austria, Finland, Sweden and Switzerland, became observers.

By 1997, the NAC-C counted 40 members. Whatever the arguments about NATO’s continuing relevance might have been in the West, there were few such doubts elsewhere.

Association with the Alliance through the NAC-C was perhaps the most important advantage for most participants, particularly those who had adopted policies which aimed at NATO membership. But in addition to this important political symbolism, a wide range of practical activities was carried out within the framework of the NAC-C.