Kuwait plays a leading role in promoting regional and international security. It has dedicated its resources and capabilities to serving as a hub for international officials to meet and discuss security and humanitarian challenges facing the world, and the Middle East in particular.
Kuwait demonstrates this commitment in many ways, one of which is the NATO-Istanbul Cooperation Initiative Regional Centre (NIRC) — the first NATO office to establish a presence in the Middle East — which opened in Kuwait in 2017 to strengthen political dialogue, education and training, and public diplomacy.
The NIRC serves as a platform for political and security dialogue between NATO and Arabian Gulf partners, NATO Secretary-General’s Special Representative for the Southern Neighborhood Javier Colomina told the Kuwait News Agency in April 2025.
As a founding member of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Kuwait helped enhance relations between NATO and the GCC, said Nawaf al-Enezi, Kuwait’s ambassador to Belgium and head of mission to the EU and NATO.
Kuwait and NATO have jointly developed a regional action plan for 2025 that includes over 21 meetings and events to enhance cooperation and capacity-building.
The Istanbul Cooperation Initiative (ICI), of which NIRC is a branch, was established at the 2004 NATO Summit in Türkiye to promote security cooperation between NATO and partner countries in the broader Middle East region.
Four GCC member states — Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates — have joined the initiative, while Oman and Saudi Arabia participate in selected activities within the ICI framework.
Kuwait has contributed enormously to the fight against
Daesh. It hosts the headquarters of Combined Joint Task
Force-Operation Inherent Resolve.
For the constant support the U.S. and NATO receive from Kuwait, the U.S. Congress designated Kuwait a major non-NATO ally in 2004. Paying tribute to that alliance, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a news release: “On behalf of the United States of America I extend congratulations to His Highness Sheikh Meshal Al Ahmed Al Jaber Al Sabah and the Kuwaiti people on Kuwait’s February 25 National Day and February 26 Liberation Day.”
He added, “the enduring partnership between the State of Kuwait and the United States stands as a testament to our shared history and a commitment to peace, security and prosperity.” Sources: Kuwait News Agency, NATO, ABC News, U.S. State Department