The transformation of NATO in the context of international events and NATO 2010 strategic concept

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was established in 1949 by Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, United Kingdom and United States of America to ensure security in Europe after Second World War. NATO, whose most main characteristic is deterrence and organized around the principle of Collective defense, succeeded in protecting its members throughout the Cold War. With the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, NATO's Raison D'état, which was the main threat during the Cold War has been questioned. NATO entered this period with new mission areas and new roles in line with new risks and new threats. This situation, expressed as the transformation of NATO, corresponds to a dynamic prosess. NATO's post Cold War transformation can be traced through diversity of topics addressed in the Alliance's summit declarations and the mechanisms developed in line with these new topics. New risks and threats have brought new strategies and new tools. In this direction, NATO has gradually become a global actor since 2010, especially with the topics of terrorism, weapons of mass destruction, energy security, cyber security and enviromental issues included in the 2010 Strategic Concept document. The aim of this thesis is to analyze this transformation process of NATO within the framework of international developments and the 2010 Strategic Concept document. In this study, the changing understanding of security in international relations will be analyzed with a special focus on NATO. With this transformation process in the post-Cold War period, it can be evaluated that NATO has transformed from the common defense organization of the Cold War period into a common security organization operating on a global scale.