NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organization

NATO’s relations with partners across the globe

NATO cooperates on an individual basis with a number of partner countries which are not part of its other partnership frameworks (i.e. the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council/Partnership for Peace, the Mediterranean Dialogue and the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative). Formally referred to as “partners across the globe” – but often simply as “global partners” – they include Australia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Pakistan, Iraq, Afghanistan and Mongolia.

These countries develop cooperation with NATO in areas of mutual interest, including emerging security challenges, and some contribute actively to NATO operations either militarily or in some other way. Individual global partners choose the areas where they wish to engage with NATO, as well as the extent of this cooperation, in a spirit of mutual benefit and reciprocity.

Over recent years, NATO has developed bilateral relations with each of these countries. Global partners now have the same access to partnership activities as other partners. Activities range from joint exercises and joint operations, to strategic-level training, and information, intelligence as well as technology exchange.

The importance of reaching out to nations and organizations across the across the globe was underlined in the Strategic Concept adopted at the November 2010 Lisbon Summit. At Lisbon, Allied leaders declared their intention, as part of a focused effort to reform NATO’s partnerships policy, to better engage with partners across the globe which contribute significantly to security. Following up on the Lisbon decisions, Allied foreign ministers approved a new partnerships policy at their meeting in Berlin in April 2011.

In line with the new policy, all partners will be treated in the same way offering them the same basis of cooperation and dialogue. Moreover, are now more frequent opportunities for meetings in flexible formats, bringing together NATO and partners from across and beyond existing partnership frameworks, as well as other countries with which NATO may have no bilateral programme of cooperation. One such meeting was held at NATO Headquarters on September 2011 to discuss counter-piracy, involving representatives from 47 nations and organizations involved in counter-piracy operations in the Indian Ocean. Other similar meetings have taken place to consult partners on different issues, such as partnership or countering narcotics in Afghanistan.

Support for NATO-led operations

The significant contributions from partners across the globe to NATO-led operations have a direct, advantageous impact for international peace and security.

In the Balkans, Argentinean and Chilean forces have worked alongside NATO Allies to ensure security in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In Kosovo, Argentina has helped NATO personnel to provide medical and social assistance to the local population and has cooperated on peace agreement implementation since 1999.

In Afghanistan, a number of global partners such as Australia, New Zealand and the Republic of Korea, work alongside the Allies as part of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). Other countries, such as Japan, support ISAF efforts of stabilization in Afghanistan without being involved in combat, by funding large number of development projects and dispatching liaison officers.

Pakistan’s support for the efforts of NATO and the international community in Afghanistan remains crucial to the success of the Alliance’s mission, despite the different difficulties experienced over recent months. NATO remains committed to engage and cooperate with Pakistan in an effort to enlist support to stabilize Afghanistan.

The participation of partners in NATO-led peace support operations is guided by the Political-Military Framework (PMF), which has been developed for NATO-led Partnership for Peace operations. This framework provides for the involvement of contributing states in the planning and force generation processes through the International Coordination Centre at Allied Command Operations. Building on lessons learned and reinforcing the habit of cooperation established through KFOR and ISAF, NATO Allies decided at the 2010 Lisbon Summit to review the PMF in order to update how NATO works together and shapes decisions with partner countries on the operations and missions to which they contribute.

Typically, forces from global partner countries are incorporated into operations on the same basis as are forces from NATO member nations. This implies that they are involved in the decision-making process through their association to the work of committees, and through the posting of liaison officers in the operational headquarters or to SHAPE. They often operate under the direct command of the Operational Commander through multinational divisional headquarters. Regular meetings of the Council at Ambassadorial, Ministerial and Heads of State and Government are held to discuss and review the operations, as illustrated by the meeting on ISAF that will take place at the Chicago Summit in May 2012.

Evolution of relations
NATO has maintained a dialogue with countries which were not part of its partnership frameworks, on an ad hoc basis, since the 1990s. However, NATO’s involvement in areas outside of its immediate region – including Afghanistan and Libya – has increased the need and the opportunities for enhanced global interaction. Clearly, the emergence of global threats requires the cooperation of a wider range of countries to succesfully tackle challenges such as terrorism, proliferation, piracy or cyber attacks. Dialogue with these countries can also help NATO to avert crises and, when needed, to manage an operation during all its phases.

Since 1998, and according to a set of general guidelines for relations countries which were then referred to as “Contact Countries”, NATO has invited nations across the globe to participate in its activities, workshops, exercises and conferences. This decision marked a policy shift for the Alliance, allowing these countries to have access, through the case-by-case approval of the North Atlantic Council, to activites offered under NATO’s structured partnerships.

Significant steps were taken at the 2006 Riga Summit to increase the operational relevance of NATO’s cooperation with both countries that are part of its structured partnership frameworks and other partners across the globe. These steps were reinforced by decisions at the 2008 Bucharest Summit, which defined a set of objectives for these relationships and created avenues for enhanced political dialogue, including meetings of the North Atlantic Council with ministers of the countries concerned, high level talks, and meetings with ambassadors. In addition, annual work programmes (then referred to as Individual Tailored Cooperation Packages of Activities) were further developed.

At the 2010 Lisbon Summit, Allies agreed to develop a more efficient and flexible partnership policy, in time for the meeting of Allied foreign ministers in Berlin in April 2011. To this end, they decided to:
- streamline NATO’s partnership tools in order to open all cooperative activities and exercises to partners and to harmonise partnership programmes;
- better engage with partners across the globe who contribute significantly to security, and reach out to relevant partners to build trust, increase transparency and develop practical cooperation;
- develop flexible formats to discuss security challenges with partners and enhance existing fora for political dialogue; and
- build on improvements in NATO’s training mechanisms and consider methods to enhance individual partner’s ability to build capacity.
As part of efforts to reach out across the globe to nations and organizations that share the Alliance’s interest in peaceful international relations, NATO is also seeking to develop dialogue with countries that do not have a formal bilateral programme of cooperation. These include countries such as China, India, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia and Colombia.