NATO as a community of values and its new political role

Abstract

In a context inevitably marked by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, NATO’s 2022 Strategic Concept risked being exclusively focused on the Russian threat and the collective defense of the Eastern flank of the Alliance. Fortunately, recognizing that the current and forthcoming strategic environment includes a multiplicity of other complex and often interconnected threats, risks and challenges, the new Strategic Concept approved on June 29 at the Madrid Summit includes several other relevant aspects for the readaptation of NATO to a new era. We highlight here two particularly decisive ones: the reaffirmation of the Alliance as a community of values and the strengthening of its political role.