scope:

The need for the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) to be capable of responding to a crisis beyond the concept of "Collective Defence" under Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty was identified at the 1999 Washington Summit. The Washington Summit recognised that future NATO involvement in non-Article 5 Crisis Response Operations (NA5CROs) needed to be more flexible, committed to collective defence and able to undertake new missions including contributing to effective conflict prevention and engaging actively in crisis management. NA5CROs are a major part of the Alliance's contribution to effective crisis management. Their purpose is to conduct missions that contribute to international peace and security. NA5CROs are intended to respond to such crises, to include the containment of hostilities, in a timely and coordinated manner where these crises could either affect the security of NATO nations, or threaten stability and lead to conflict on the periphery of the Alliance. NA5CROs encompass the Alliance's conduct of and participation in the full range of operations to include those in support of peace, which could range from the most demanding types of peace enforcement to military preventative activities, and others as directed by the North Atlantic Council (NAC).