ABSTRACT

The transatlantic link is the source of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) enduring vitality and the key to its success in its new, as well as traditional, missions. The first contribution that NATO has made to addressing new instabilities has been through its own adaptation to the new political and security environment. For nearly half a century NATO has guaranteed the security of its members and it remains the only organization which can still do so. In the final communique of the North Atlantic Council on 5 December 1995, NATO ministers expressed concern about all cases of failure by States Parties to fulfil their Treaty obligations. A number of ideas put forward by NATO in Vienna, especially those concerning certain stabilizing measures for use in localized crisis situations, have served as a model for a possible package of measures to be applied to Bosnia-Herzegovina.