IV.

Structure

The highest authority within NATO is the North Atlantic Council, which is composed of ministers who are represented in permanent session by ambassadors, and is chaired by a secretary-general. The council is responsible for general policy, budgetary outlines, and administrative actions. Subordinate to the council are the Secretariat, various temporary committees, and the Military Committee. The secretary-general runs the Secretariat, which handles all the non-military functions of the alliance. The temporary committees deal with specific assignments of the council. The Military Committee consists of the chiefs of staff of the various armed forces; it meets twice a year. Between such meetings, the Military Committee, in permanent session with representatives of the members, defines military policies. Below the Military Committee are the various geographical commands. These have been streamlined since the Cold War, the main ones surviving being the Supreme Commander Europe (SACEUR), the Supreme Commander Atlantic (SACLANT), and two regional commanders, for Northern and Southern Europe. In the late 1990s the Deputy SACEUR, who is always European, assumed a new role as the potential commander of operations in which the United States might not take part, responding to efforts by the European Union to develop a “defence identity”.