Secretary General of NATO

The Secretary General of NATO (French: Secrétaire général de l'OTAN) is an international diplomat who serves as the chief civil servant of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization
Flag of NATO
Incumbent
Jens Stoltenberg
since 1 October 2014
Term length4 years
Inaugural holderHastings Ismay
March 24, 1952
WebsiteOffice of the Secretary General

The Secretary General is responsible for coordinating the workings of the alliance, leading NATO's international staff, chairing the meetings of the North Atlantic Council and most major committees of the alliance, with the notable exception of the NATO Military Committee, and acting as NATO's spokesperson.[1]

The current Secretary General is Jens Stoltenberg, the former Prime Minister of Norway, who took office on 1 October 2014.[2]

List of Secretaries General
#Secretary GeneralPhotoNationalityTook officeLeft officeLength of term
1 Hastings Ismay  United Kingdom March 24, 1952 May 16, 1957 j5 years
2 Paul-Henri Spaak  Belgium May 16, 1957 April 21, 1961 g4 years
3 Dirk Stikker  Netherlands April 21, 1961 August 1, 1964 e3 years [N 1]
4 Manlio Brosio  Italy August 1, 1964 October 1, 1971 m7 years
5 Joseph Luns  Netherlands October 1, 1971 June 25, 1984 n13 years
6 Peter Carrington  United Kingdom June 25, 1984 July 1, 1988 ga4 years
7 Manfred Wörner  Germany July 1, 1988 August 13, 1994 l6 years [N 2]
— Sergio Balanzino (acting)  Italy August 13, 1994 October 17, 1994 c2 months [N 2]
8 Willy Claes  Belgium October 17, 1994 October 20, 1995 d1 year [N 3]
— Sergio Balanzino (acting)  Italy October 20, 1995 December 5, 1995 b6 weeks [N 3]
9 Javier Solana  Spain December 5, 1995 October 6, 1999 f4 years
10 George Robertson  United Kingdom October 14, 1999 December 17, 2003 i4 years
— Alessandro Minuto-Rizzo (acting)  Italy December 17, 2003 January 1, 2004 a3 weeks[N 4]
11 Jaap de Hoop Scheffer  Netherlands January 1, 2004[N 5] August 1, 2009 k5 years
12 Anders Fogh Rasmussen  Denmark August 1, 2009 October 1, 2014[11] 5 years
13 Jens Stoltenberg  Norway October 1, 2014 Incumbent

Notes
  1. Stikker resigned from his position a year early due to poor health.[3]
  2. Wörner died in office on August 13, 1994 of cancer. The Deputy Secretary General, Sergio Balanzino, took over his daily responsibilities for the last several months on his life and then became acting Secretary General upon his death until the appointment of Willy Claes.[4]
  3. Claes resigned as Secretary General after a bribery scandal, centering on his actions in the Belgian cabinet in the 1980s. After his resignation, Deputy Secretary General Sergio Balanzino served as acting Secretary General until the appointment of Javier Solana.[5]
  4. George Robertson announced in January 2003 that he would be stepping down in December.[6] Jaap de Hoop Scheffer was selected as his successor, but could not assume the office until January 2004 because of his commitment in the Dutch Parliament.[7] Robertson was asked to extend his term until Scheffer was ready, but declined, so Minuto-Rizzo, the Deputy Secretary General, took over in the interim.[8]
  5. Scheffer was named Secretary General of NATO effective January 1, 2004,[9] but he did not take office until January 5, 2004.[8][10]

References
  1. NATO Secretary General, NATO
  2. "Nato names Stoltenberg next chief". BBC. 28 March 2014. Retrieved 28 March 2014.
  3. Cook, Don (April 3, 1964). "Resignation announced by Stikker". The Washington Post.
  4. Marshall, Andrew (15 August 1994). "Hunt is on to find new Nato chief". The Independent. London. Retrieved 2009-03-29.
  5. Whitney, Craig (21 October 1995). "Facing Charges, NATO Head Steps Down". The New York Times. Retrieved 2009-03-29.
  6. Smith, Craig (January 23, 2003). "NATO Secretary General to Leave His Post in December After 4 Years". The New York Times. Retrieved 2009-03-29.
  7. "Jaap de Hoop Scheffer". Newsmakers. No. 1. Thomson Gale. January 1, 2005.
  8. "NATO Chief Steps Down". The New York Times. December 18, 2003. Retrieved 2009-03-29.
  9. Crouch, Gregory (23 September 2003). "NATO Names a Dutchman To Be Its Secretary General". The New York Times. Retrieved 2009-03-29.
  10. Crouch, Gregory (January 6, 2004). "New NATO Chief Takes Over". The New York Times. Retrieved 2009-03-29.
  11. "The extension of the Secretary General's mandate". NATO. October 3, 2012. Retrieved 2013-08-27.
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