According to the Constitution of Romania, the Armed Forces are exclusively under the will of the people and guarantee the sovereignty, independence, and unity of the state, the territorial integrity of the country, and constitutional democracy. Under the law and under international treaties ratified by Romania, the armed forces contribute to collective defense in military alliance systems and take part in peacekeeping or peace enforcement actions. Carrying out these fundamental missions requires the identification of potential military risks and threats, the establishment of military objectives in agreement with national interests, the configuration of the most effective package of defense capabilities, and the setting of operational concepts on which the use of military force is based. The military strategy achieves these requirements through detailing the force structure and providing the guidelines for the planning of organisation, size, training and endowment of the Romanian Armed Forces over the next four years. Since the publication of the previous Military Strategy, the dynamics and complexity of the security environment have increased. The military conflicts in Georgia and Ukraine, the volatility of the security environment, the proliferation of terrorism, and the migration generated by the situation in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) represent a true paradigm shift in Romania’s area of strategic interest. Security and collective defense assurances, provided by the status of Romania as a North Atlantic Alliance member, the solidarity and mutual assistance clauses within the European Union, and the strategic partnerships – of which the one with the United States of America is essential -, represent evidence of the democratic path and evolution that Romanian society made towards more security. A diversified spectrum of threats against our national security, and the obligations Romania assumed in the Allied context, require the Armed Forces to develop necessary defense capabilities at the right level of readiness, well-equipped and ready for action according to operational plans. The Military Strategy has an active-defensive character, and emphasizes the need to quickly adapt our posture and force structure to the complexity of challenges. The ability to accurately produce the desired effects by effectively engaging the forces assigned to the mission is dependent on the flexible architecture of the command structure, on the quality of the leaders, and on the initiative of the forces executing the missions. Reaction time will be very short, and challenges will combine in unexpected ways. It will not be sufficient for operations to be carried out in a joint context. They will also need to have an integrating character, fully correlated with the actions of other instruments of national power, within a coherent and flexible interagency framework. The concept of expanded national security requires the training of military personnel in understanding the role of national power structures and of international organizations in order to ensure the synergy of action of all actors involved in the area of military action. The Military Strategy offers the guidelines for a new generation of military leaders, with their character shaped in theaters of operations and experience gained in allied commands and encourages them to be innovative, flexible, effective, and oriented towards the achievement of the operational capability of the force structure of the Romanian Armed Forces. General NICOLAE-IONEL CIUCĂ CHIEF OF THE GENERAL STAFF 5