NATO

The NATO Legal Gazette

The NATO Legal Gazette is an educational outreach publication produced by the HQ SACT Legal Offices in Norfolk and Staff Element Europe co-located at SHAPE in Mons, Belgium.

The NATO Legal Gazette contains thematically organized articles usually written by authors who are military or civilian legal personnel working at NATO or in the governments NATO and partner nations. Its purpose is to share articles of significance for the large NATO legal community and connect legal professionals of the Alliance.

The NATO Legal Gazette is not a formal NATO document. Its articles do not represent the official opinions or positions of NATO or individual governments.

Archive:

Issue 40 | Issue 39 | Issue 38 | Issue 37 | Issue 36 Special | Issue 36 | Issue 35 | Issue 34 | Issue 33 | Issue 32 |

NATO’s primary purpose and values are set out in the North Atlantic Treaty, first signed on 4 April 1949 in Washington D.C. by representatives of its twelve founding member nations.

The intervening decades have seen the accession of further members, and a series of changes to the security environment and to the technological means of warfare, to name only a few. Yet, the North Atlantic Treaty with its 14 brief articles remains the bedrock document of the Alliance.

In order to mark the 70th anniversary of the signing of the Washington Treaty, the Legal Offices in NATO Headquarters International Staff, in SHAPE, and in HQ SACT have, in cooperation with Emory Law School, coordinated a publication providing a current commentary to the Washington Treaty.

The publication is a special edition of Emory International Law Review and it would not have been possible without the tireless and meticulous editing and assistance provided by the editorial board of the Emory International Law Review.

The special edition is an Emory International Law Review publication and remains subject to Emory International Law Review copyright and permissions policy. All articles bear a disclaimer and while this is not an official NATO publication or collection of official NATO positions it is regarded to be a welcome contribution to understanding the context of the North Atlantic Treaty and the origins of what we now simply refer to as NATO.

Concept Development and Experimentation (CD&E) is a fundamental process which enables transformation activities.

The CD&E Handbook provides basic information for the concept developer based on approved NATO guidance and policy as well as best practice derived from a rich history of CD&E experience.

Although designed to address Alliance CD&E activities, it has been developed with a vision of informing NATO nations, our partners and other nations and organizations.

Accordingly, significant effort has been taken to ensure applicability of the methodology across the broadest user community.

You can download the handbook in pdf format by clicking the icon on the left, or here.

To be informed on the revisions of the handbook and on CD&E in NATO you can request to be added to our mailing list by sending an e-mail to ConceptDevelopment@act.nato.int

If you have a TRANSNET account you can also (request) access (to) the online version via https://cdh.transnet.act.nato.int/

The aim of the Strategic Foresight Analysis Report is to identify trends that will shape the future strategic context and derive implications for the Alliance out to 2035 and beyond. The Strategic Foresight Analysis does not attempt to predict the future, for the future is neither predictable nor predetermined. It provides an iterative assessment of trends and their implications to understand and visualise the nature of the dynamic and complex security environment.

The Strategic Foresight Analysis is the initial phase of the ongoing Long-Term Military Transformation efforts at Allied Command Transformation and sets the intellectual foundation for a follow-on report, the Framework for Future Alliance Operations.

The Strategic Foresight Analysis Report examines the main trends of global change and the resultant defence and security implications for NATO, highlighting challenges as well as opportunities. It is structured along the following themes: political, human, technology, economics/resources and environment.

The new Strategic Foresight Analysis 2017 Report has been released. The glossy print version is available by clicking the image on the left. The text version is available here.

Innovation in Capability Development Publication

Innovation in NATO — Ideas need time to mature ~ Innovative ideas are often challenging to implement in formal processes, policies, or technologies, especially in large and complex organisations such as NATO. To prevent innovative ideas being shelved prematurely, we must have avenues for their acceptation, socialisation, sharing, and development. As NATO's transformation agent, ACT is uniquely placed to achieve this aim.

What is the Innovation in Capability Development Publication? HQ SACT's Capability Engineering and Innovation Division has developed the Innovation in Capability Development Publication Series to capture and socialise innovative transformational ideas. The publication series will be a record of innovative thinking by a diverse network of experts, facilitated by ACT.
The publication is a professionally produced, edited volume on a single topic relevant to NATO and national work. Intended for both policy makers and practitioners in that particular field, the publication contains substantial detail and forward-thinking, cutting edge ideas. Under guidance from a subject-matter expert editorial team, contributions are solicited from expert authors from NATO, academia, national defence organisations, and industry. All contributions are reviewed by the editorial team as well as being blind reviewed by external experts.

Volume 1 – Innovation in Operations Assessment: Recent Developments in Measuring Progress in Conflict Environments

Transformational Activities in Operations Assessment

This first volume is on the concepts and processes used to measure the progress and results of military operations—called "Operations Assessment" in NATO. In the past two decades, NATO operations assessment has undergone substantial development, driven partly by the experience of the international missions in Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq, and Afghanistan. This volume reviews recent practices, and suggests ways the process could be improved, including potential future innovations and capability developments.

This work was generated out of the large amount of worked conducted by ACT and partners on developing the NATO Operations Assessment Handbook, sections of the ACO Comprehensive Operations Planning Directive, and a training course for NATO School. This work was supported by a variety of analytical studies, concept development, and experimentation.

Volume 2 – Autonomous Systems – a Transformation in Warfare?

Autonomous Systems – a Transformation in Warfare?

Volume 2 of the Innovation in Capability Development covers the subject of autonomous systems, which stand potentially to transform the way in which warfare is conducted. Advances in sensors, robotics and computing are permitting the development of a whole new class of systems, which offer a wide range of military benefits including the ability to operate without personnel on board the platform, novel human-machine teaming concepts, and "swarm" operating methods. With any such transformation advances, there are unique operational, legal, ethical and design issues.

This volume brings together a group of international experts who were participants in various ACT initiatives in order to share their perspectives, in a multidisciplinary approach, on the wide ranging opportunities, implications and challenges that autonomous systems will bring, and ensure that the Alliance is ready to address the forthcoming issues of terminology, standardisation, interoperability and military operational conduct.

Volume 3 – Advances in Defence Analysis, Concept Development and Experimentation

Advances in Defence Analysis, Concept Development and Experimentation

Innovation for the Future, presents a number of thought provoking ideas and elaborates on CD&E experiences for a wide range of topics. CD&E has a pivotal role in supporting the development and adaptation of allied forces by advancing our knowledge of future requirements, systems and capabilities, and shortening the distance between users and designers.

This volume brings together a group of international experts who participated in various ACT initiatives in order to share their perspectives, in a multidisciplinary approach, on the wide ranging opportunities, implications and challenges that CD&E will bring, and ensure that the Alliance is ready to address the forthcoming challenges.

The NATO Open Perspectives Exchange Network (OPEN)

OPEN stands for OPEN Perspectives Exchange Network, which is a network for understanding the modern security environment from other than military point of view run by NATO Allied Command Transformation’s Plans and Policy Branch.

OPEN is a strategic thinking tool that seeks alternative perspectives on matters of importance to NATO and others. OPEN aims to share quality products on important topics and understand things from our reader's points of view. OPEN is based on a model that was extremely successful - the Civil Military Fusion Centre (CFC) and works with freelance expert writers who may fit into the following criteria: non-conventional military expert, non-NATO employee, published and proven author, and an acknowledged subject matter expert in their field.

OPEN products are not classified and openly sourced. They are available at openpublications.org

For more information on OPEN, contact us by email or phone +1 757-747-4326.

OPEN PUBLICATIONS 2020

OPEN PUBLICATIONS 2019

OPEN PUBLICATIONS 2018

OPEN PUBLICATIONS 2017

Allied Command Transformation launched the Stability Policing initiative to provide a forum for the study and exploration of innovative ideas to guide NATO’s capability development in this area.

At the Warsaw Summit in 2016, the Alliance took action based on the complexity driven by the emergence or resurgence of state actors as potential peer competitors coupled with the increasing threat of terrorism. These changes to the strategic environment drove a renewed emphasis on deterrence and defence while at the same time underscoring the importance of projecting stability.

This volume covers the subject of Stability Policing, which allows NATO to operate in a proactive posture in order to prevent escalation of conflict, changing the way in which the Alliance engages in this complex strategic environment. In line with the larger summit aspirations for Projecting Stability, Stability Policing capabilities based on future requirements must be driven by a functional analysis approach.

This compilation explores and examines Stability Policing from multiple perspectives. It provides insights into some of the many challenges associated with conducting Stability Policing operations, as well as NATO’s efforts to develop a capability in this area as part of the larger “Projecting Stability” aspirations of the Warsaw Summit.