Despite continued doubts about its relevance since the end of the Cold War, NATO has been constantly called upon to take on new tasks. It was instrumental in extinguishing the flames of ethnic and nationalist rivalries in the Balkans. Far from completing its life cycle, at the Prague Summit in November 2002, NATO committed itself to modernize and transform to meet the challenges of the 21st century. It has now overcome the out-of-area or out-of-business dilemma, as it prepares to assume the command of ISAF. Despite the different vision of its members on some issues, NATO remains a twin-pillar alliance and the only institution capable of meeting new security risks. Since the end of the Cold War, it has almost become a routine proclivity to argue for the irrelevance of NATO. During the early Nineties, articles in the media were almost obituaries, with the main contention being that with the disintegration of the Warsaw Pact and the disappearance of the constant threat against which NATO had been designed to defend, NATO was no longer needed.
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