The crises on NATO´s Eastern and Southern flank persist and have permanently changed the security environment in Europe. After the immediate measures included in the Readiness Action Plan agreed to at last year´s Summit in Wales, the political guidance marks the first step of NATO´s long-term adaptation to this “new normal”.The preparation of the political guidance has reopened the old debate between territorial defense (“Easterners”) and crisis management (“Southerners”) and considerably strained the cohesion of the Alliance.