Indeed, NATO had started to adapt its agenda even before the Allies consciously set out to do so. The first example was the invocation of Article 5 on 12 September 2001. By agreeing that an attack by a non-state actor could be categorized as an “armed attack” in line with the Washington Treaty, the Allies broadened the understanding of collective self-defence far beyond its traditional meaning of responding to a military invasion.
Moreover, as this first-ever invocation of Article 5 had no anti-Russian context, it effectively demolished long-held myths that collective defence was all about Russia.
Another major change was the deployment of forces from many NATO nations to Afghanistan, complemented by statements in key documents to meet challenges “whenever and wherever” they occurred. This marked the de facto end of NATO’s out-of-area debate, which, as the French NATO Ambassador put it cogently, had collapsed with the Twin Towers.
Put simply, without agonising debate NATO moved from a geographical to a functional understanding of security. This shift proved to be more significant in ensuring NATO’s future relevance than any other change it has undergone in its history.
The conceptual dimensions soon followed, however, notably with NATO’s Military Concept for the defence against terrorism. With the attacks still fresh in everyone’s mind, the Concept was able to break new ground with respect to the early use of force. A little over a year after “9/11”, NATO’s Prague Summit agreed on the development of new military capabilities that would support its counter-terrorist missions, notably the NATO Response Force and various initiatives on nuclear, biological, and chemical (NBC) weapon defence. A Partnership Action Plan for the Defence against terrorism was agreed as well. And several partner countries participated in “Operation Active Endeavour”, NATO’s Article 5 counter-terrorist naval operation in the Mediterranean.