
The NATO Partnerships 360 Symposium is a contemporary and innovative venture, bringing together civilian and military representatives from Allies and all Partner Nations to stimulate the free exchange of ideas, opportunities and challenges, and help identify trends and needs most relevant for NATO partners and their relationship with the Alliance.
The event, co-organized by NATO’s Allied Command Transformation and the International Staff Political Affairs and Security Policy Division, engages the partnership network and community in a “one NATO” spirit of political-military cooperation.
The first edition of the NATO Partnerships 360 Symposium was held in 2018, in Berlin, Germany; the NATO Maritime Interdiction Operational Training Centre in Chania, Greece, hosted the second Symposium in June 2019; the Symposium 2022 took place in Geneva, Switzerland, on July 11-13; and the last edition of the Symposium took place in Madrid, Spain in November 2023.
The “Partnerships 360 Symposium 2023 Report” can be found here.
The NATO Partnerships 360 Symposium 2024 will take place in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina, on October 22-24. The event is open to participants from Allied and Partner Nations, NATO Headquarters, the NATO Command Structure, selected NATO Agencies and Organizations, as well as International Organizations and Non-Governmental Organizations, Centres of Excellence and Academic experts.
Points of Contact
Questions can be addressed to the following Allied Command Transformation Point of Contact:
LTC Jaime Beneitez Campos:
[email protected]
Tel: +1 757-747-3484
Previous Events
For the first time, NATO International Staff’s Political Affairs and Security Policy Division and NATO Allied Command Transformation, with the generous support of the German government and its Federal academy for Security Policy organized a joint, civil-military “Partnerships 360 symposium”. The symposium brought together allies and partners to brainstorm and shape innovative policy approaches to partnerships.
Participants were asked to consider three clusters of inter-related questions, covering inter alia:
- Allies and partners’ perceptions of risks, challenges, and priorities, in particular in the context of projecting stability and Counter-terrorism;
- The importance of, and areas of key relevance in, defence Institution Building for fostering long-term stability;
- The adequacy and relevance of various NATO partnership dialogue and cooperation tools and mechanisms, in light of the current security environment.
The symposium concluded with a number of key findings and insights related, inter alia, to the following topics: partnership tools and instruments, best practices, early engagement and consultation, political dialogue and policy shaping, Defence Institution Building, interoperability, exercises, Trust Funds.
On June 11th –13th, the second edition of the NATO Partnerships 360 Symposium was held at the NATO Maritime Interdiction Operational Training Centre in Chania, Greece.
The event brought together around 170 participants from 27 of the 29 NATO Allies, 24 of the 41 Partner nations, the European Union and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, to stimulate a free exchange of ideas regarding Projecting Stability and the use of new technologies in the face of hybrid challenges.
The event, co-hosted by NATO’s Allied Command Transformation and NATO’s International Staff Political Affairs and Security Policy Division, engages the partnership network and community in a “one NATO” spirit of political-military cooperation. Numerous leaders from across the Alliance joined together to challenge established practices.
Ambassador Alejandro Alvargonzález, NATO Assistant Secretary General for Political Affairs and Security Policy said, “NATO cannot address today’s security challenges alone. We need partners. Not only in support of our missions and operations, but also to develop common situational awareness. Fostering these partnerships […] is a fine balancing act between adaptability and stability.”
Admiral Manfred Nielson, NATO Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Transformation, expressed his views on NATO’s need to streamline processes in a “One-NATO” approach, “We need to re-focus on interoperability beyond the military domain to aggregate a valid picture involving many different stakeholders, especially in the field of data analysis. Allied Command Transformation, as the Alliance’s Warfare Development Command, has a leading role in adapting the Alliance for the future. How can we optimize our partnerships and ensure our partners ability to interact with the Alliance more effectively? How can we expand the role of our partners?”
Major General Petros Domestichas, Hellenic General Staff, and Ambassador Nikolaos Plexidas, Hellenic Ministry of Foreign Affairs, opened the venue, followed by keynote speeches delivered by several NATO leaders.
Participants were also invited to openly discuss and share their expertise and opinions in breakout sessions, discussing different partnerships topics clustered in 3 blocks:
- Keeping pace with the changing security environment
- A fresh look at the toolbox (Institutional and capacity building/resilience, Interoperability, regional challenges)
- The role of NATO among International Organisations & its perception among partner nations (international community’s efforts, Human Security)
The NATO Partnerships 360 Symposium 2022 took place in Geneva, Switzerland, on July 11-13. The event attracted more than 250 participants from 54 Allied and Partner Nations, as well as IOs and NGOs, Centres of Excellence and the NATO military Commands. Opened by NATO Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoana, with keynote addresses by the State Secretary of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs of Switzerland Ms Livia Leu and Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Transformation General Christian Badia, the symposium reflected on how deeper and concrete cooperation can strengthen Partners and NATO in an increasingly uncertain and dangerous world.
The plenary session on the first day of the symposium focused on the outcomes of the NATO Madrid Summit and the New Strategic Concept. This session was followed by 5 breakout sessions addressing The Rules based International Order, Human Security – Leading by Example, Capacity Building, Innovation and Interoperability.
The second day continued with the main takeaways from the breakout sessions and a plenary session on Partnerships and Resilience.
The level of attendance and interaction clearly demonstrated the attractiveness and relevance of the NATO Partnerships 360 Symposium as a key venue for open and frank debate on engagement and cooperation between NATO and Partners.
For more information on the 2022 Symposium, read the news article here or download the Final Report here.
The NATO Partnerships 360 Symposium 2023 took place in Madrid, Spain, on November 14-16. The event attracted around 250 participants from Allied and Partner Nations, NATO Headquarters, the NATO Command Structure, selected NATO Agencies and Organizations, as well as International Organizations and Non-Governmental Organizations, Centres of Excellence and Academic experts.
The theme for the 2023 symposium was “Understand Better, Adapt Faster, Prevent Together”. It aimed to solidify the partnerships community and to enhance Alliance and partner coherence and unity of effort.
The “Partnerships 360 Symposium 2023 Report” can be found here.
Click here to read more about the NATO Partnerships 360 Symposium 2023.