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Briefing: Building peace and stability in crisis regions 1. Building peace and stability Contents   1. Building peace and stability   2. Turning point  3. Evolving approaches  4. EU-NATO cooperation  5. Operation Essential Harvest  6. Modern peacekeeping Editorial Note   Important publisher and editorial information about this document Other Formats English PDF(~550Kb) Printable version with colour illustrations Order a hardcopy version using the online order form. The greatest and most visible change in NATO's activities since the end of the Cold War is its involvement in ending conflict, restoring peace and building stability in crisis regions. Indeed, the Alliance is currently leading three complex, peace-support operations - in Afghanistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo - and handed responsibility for a fourth - in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia(1) - to the European Union in April 2003 after the Alliance had successfully stabilised the situation. "Lessons learned in the former Yugoslavia are being put into practice in Afghanistan" In every instance, NATO is deploying in support of the wider interests of the international community and working closely together with other organisations to help resolve deep-rooted problems and create the conditions in which the various peace processes can become self-sustaining. In the wake of the terrorist attacks against the United States of 11 September 2001, the NATO-led peace-support operations and the Alliance's unique crisis-management capabilities are of increasing importance to wider international security, since failed states have proved to be an ideal breeding ground for instability, terrorism and transnational crime. In the words of NATO Secretary General Lord Robertson: "In future crises affecting the Euro-Atlantic area, NATO will again be the multinational crisismanagement instrument of choice for all Allies. Because the Alliance is the world's largest permanent coalition. Because NATO is preeminently the world's most effective military organisation. And because NATO's machinery will be even more effective in the future." The capabilities and expertise to manage such complex operations have been dramatically enhanced during the past decade, primarily in response to the wars of Yugoslavia's dissolution. In effect, the break-up of the former Yugoslavia was the first Euro-Atlantic example of 21st century security challenges, and as such, has been critical to the development of contemporary approaches to peacesupport operations. Lessons learned in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia(1) are extremely relevant elsewhere, and, indeed, are being put into practice today in Afghanistan. The wars of Yugoslavia's dissolution, and especially the Bosnian War, caught the international community largely unprepared. The early responses to these crises highlighted the shortcomings of the international security architecture following the end of the Cold War. Initially, the United Nations was the principal institution attempting to broker an end to hostilities, keep the peace in regions where a cease-fire had been agreed and alleviate the suffering of non-combatants. Over the years, NATO became involved in support of the United Nations through various air- and sea-based support operations - enforcing economic sanctions, an arms embargo and a no-flight zone - and by providing the United Nations with detailed military contingency planning concerning safe areas and the implementation of a peace plan. (1) Turkey recognises the Republic of Macedonia with its constitutional name.

© NATO - OTAN 2004 -	NATO Public Diplomacy Division 1110 Brussels, Belgium - E-mail: natodoc@hq.nato.int