STRATCON 2010: An Alliance for a Global Century. Atlantic Council, April 2010

NATO’s purpose has three key elements: to embody the mutual commitment to the protection and defense of allies in the event of an attack; to help resolve international crises when invited; and to cooperate with others to resolve common security threats. The overriding goal of the Alliance is to make NATO citizens feel safe. NATO safeguards the freedom, common heritage and civilization of the Alliance, founded on the principles of democracy, individual liberty and the rule of law, and promotes transatlantic security and wellbeing based on the preservation of peace and stability in areas vital to those ends. NATO is thus a twenty-first century security alliance and the transatlantic security forum combining political and military power.