The Assembly,

1. Reaffirming that, first and foremost, NATO is an Alliance committed to the collective defence of all its members;
2. Recalling that Article 6 of the Washington Treaty States that NATO's guarantee of collective defence extends to both Europe and North America;
3. Recognising that each Alliance member must take all necessary steps to defend its territory, citizens, and armed forces;
4. Believing that nuclear weapons still play a role as the ultimate deterrent against threats to the security of the Alliance;
5. Confident that a responsible reduction in the world's nuclear arsenals will enhance international security;
6. Convinced that the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty is a cornerstone of strategic arms reduction and of maintaining the strategic stability ;
7. Applauding the United States and Russia for negotiating, ratifying, and implementing a series of strategic arms control treaties that have greatly reduced the nuclear threat;
8. Endorsing negotiations to continue these reductions through a START III Treaty;
9. Understanding that the proliferation of technology for ballistic missiles and weapons of mass destruction poses new threats to Alliance members and other friendly nations in Europe, North America, and other regions;
10. Accepting that the National Missile Defence system being proposed by the United States government is a limited system that would not undermine the Russian nuclear deterrent;
11. Concerned , nevertheless, that strategic missile defences could lead other States to increase their strategic missile arsenals so as to overcome those defences, leading to a nuclear arms race;
12. Optimistic that improved Theatre Missile Defence (TMD) systems could help address ballistic missile threats without negatively affecting arms control efforts;
13. Convinced that priority should be given to an improved non-proliferation and arms control policy to reduce threats to Alliance and international security posed by weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles;
14. Fearing that misunderstandings over missile defence may erode the unity of the Alliance;
15. Welcoming the consultations that the government of the United States has undertaken with Allied governments and with the Assembly;
16. URGES the member governments and parliaments of the North Atlantic Alliance:
    1. to undertake an Alliance-wide comprehensive review in order to reach a common understanding of the strategic ballistic missile threat to all member nations, appropriate responses to that threat, and the possible consequences of those responses;
    2. to take into account the overall security of the entire Alliance when making decisions about their national defence;
    3. to work together to retain the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty with a view to enhancing the security of the States party to the Treaty, all Alliance members and the Euro-Atlantic region, taking into account possible reactions in the Asia-Pacific region, also by promoting where necessary a renegotiation of the most controversial clauses of the ABM Treaty;
    4. to endeavour to maintain strategic stability and to continue arms control efforts, particularly through START II and the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty;
    5. to continue research into Theatre Missile Defence systems, which would protect Allied forces and the territory of European Allies, and boost-phase systems, which may have the potential to defend against missile attacks without jeopardising the strategic balance;
    6. to strengthen fair transatlantic co-operation in Theatre Missile Defence development, including technology transfers within the Alliance, in order to avoid unnecessary duplication and overlap and to study the possibility of co-operation with Russia in TMD development;
    7. to preserve the Allies' cohesion in international arms control and disarmament negotiations;
    8. to promote efforts to halt the proliferation of ballistic missiles and weapons of mass destruction, as well as improving and strengthening the Missile Technology Control Regime and continuing the discussion about a Global System of Missile Control and Missile Technology Control;
    9. to encourage other countries to respect existing non-proliferation and arms control agreements, including the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and the Missile Technology Control Regime, as well as the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty;
    10. to take measures to prevent space militarisation;
    11. to strengthen co-operative efforts to protect populations against attacks by weapons of mass destruction delivered by non-missile means;
    12. to work toward elimination of tactical nuclear weapons;
    13. to work actively and with urgency on implementing the Non-Proliferation Treaty and the decisions taken during the Non-Proliferation Treaty review in May 2000 and to ensure that these commitments form part of the Alliance's work after the conclusion of the study on options for arms control, disarmament and non-proliferation; and that the results of this review shall be published.