1. NATO Communications and public diplomacy
NATO communicates and develops programmes to help raise awareness and understanding of the
Alliance and Alliance-related issues and, ultimately, to foster support for, and trust in, the Organization.
Since NATO is an intergovernmental organisation, individual member governments are also responsible
for explaining their national defence and security policies as well as their role as members of the Alliance
to their respective publics.
Highlights
NATO promotes public debate and understanding of the Alliance through direct engagement, both online
and in person, while coordinating with NATO members on an ongoing basis.
The Public Diplomacy Division at NATO Headquarters harmonises all public diplomacy activities and
coordinates communication activities NATO-wide.
The military commands and the International Military Staff also communicate on activities under their
responsibility, in accordance with agreed NATO policies.
Overall guidance and direction to NATO’s communications efforts and information activities is provided
by the North Atlantic Council (NAC) and specific guidance and direction is given by the Secretary General.
Role of communications and public diplomacy
The overall aim of NATO’s communications activities is to promote dialogue and understanding, while
contributing to the public’s knowledge of security issues and promoting public involvement in a
continuous process of debate on security.
To do so, NATO engages with the media, develops communications and public diplomacy programmes for
selected groups including opinion leaders, academic and parliamentary groups, youth and educational
circles. It seeks to reach audiences worldwide via its various platforms and social media activities. It also
disseminates materials and implements programmes and activities with external partners, while at the
same time supporting the NATO Secretary General in his role as the principal spokesperson for the
Alliance.
This drive to inform and engage with the public is reinforced by the knowledge that NATO is accountable
to its member governments and their taxpayers who fund the Organization. As such, and in a spirit of
transparency, it explains its policies, activities and functions.
Promoting security cooperation
Stimulating debate on NATO issues contributes to strengthening knowledge of the Alliance’s goals and
objectives. Many of NATO’s information activities have an interactive, two-way nature, enabling the
Organization to listen to and learn from the experience of its audiences, identify their concerns and fields
of interest and respond to their questions. In Moscow and Kyiv for instance, NATO has set up information
offices to increase the impact of its work and interact more frequently with its audiences. There are also
information points in other partner countries and so-called “contact point embassies”, which are NATO
member country embassies located in partner countries that enable NATO to engage with local audiences.
2. Types of activities
Today, the Alliance uses internet-based media and public engagement, in addition to traditional media,
to build awareness of and support for NATO’s evolving role, objectives and missions. In short, the Alliance
employs a multi-faceted and integrated approach in communicating and engaging with the wider public.
Over time, programmes and policy have adapted to changes in the political and security environment, as
well as to the technical innovations that have a direct impact on communication work. The
communications services provided by NATO itself have also been reformed and restructured on numerous
occasions to adapt to the different needs of the constantly evolving information environment, as well as
to the needs of the security environment
Working mechanisms
The NAC and Secretary General are in charge of the overall direction of communications and public
diplomacy programmes for both the civilian and military sides of the Alliance.
The NATO Deputies Committee guides overall strategic communications on behalf of the NAC. Issue-
specific NATO committees provide more detailed guidance, commenting on issues ranging from NATO
maritime strategy to operations.
The Committee on Public Diplomacy (CPD) acts as an advisory body to the NAC on communication, media
and public engagement issues. It makes recommendations to the NAC regarding how to encourage public
understanding of, and support for, the goals of the Alliance.
At NATO Headquarters, members of the Public Diplomacy Division, who run communications and public
diplomacy programmes from within the International Staff, work closely with the International Military
Staff and, more specifically, the Public Affairs and Strategic Communications Advisor to the Chairman of
the Military Committee (MC). PDD also works with staff from the two strategic commands – Allied
Command Operations (ACO) and Allied Command Transformation (ACT) – who communicate on
operations, exercises and other activities under their purview. The interaction between the civilian and
military side of the Alliance is key in ensuring a coherent and consistent approach to communications
NATO-wide.
