NATO launches into new era with fresh 'strategic concept'

LISBON: NATO adopted Friday a once-in-a-decade mission statement that will guide the alliance through a sea of new and emerging threats.

The 11-page "strategic concept" replaces a version written in 1999, two years before the 9/11 attacks on the United States forced the 28-nation alliance into an intractable war in Afghanistan.

In it, NATO leaders reaffirm the 61-year-old alliance's core principles, foresee a transformation to be better equipped against modern dangers and call for deepening partnerships in a globalised world.