Solana was the ninth secretary-general of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the first Spaniard to serve in that capacity, who oversaw a series of dramatic changes and growth in the alliance. Francisco Javier Solana Madariaga was born in Madrid to a prominent family. He studied in Spain and then earned a doctorate in physics at the University of Virginia in 1968. Solana's early career was in academia, and he taught at institutions in the United States and Europe.

As a student, Solana had joined the banned Spanish Socialist Worker's Party (Partido Socialista Obrero Espanol, PSOE). He went on to hold a variety of posts in the party. Solana was elected to parliament in 1977 and appointed minister of culture in 1982. He also served as the government's spokesman. Solana initially opposed NATO and argued that the alliance created unnecessary tension with the Soviet Union. However, in 1986, he publicly campaigned on behalf of the alliance during a national referendum on Spain's continued membership in NATO. In 1988, Solana became minister of education and science. Four years later, he was appointed foreign minister. In 1995, Solana initiated a program to improve relations between the European Union (EU) and countries in the Mediterranean region.

In December 1995, Solana was chosen as NATO secretary-general after his predecessor, Willy Claes (1938- ), was forced to resign. Solana quickly earned a reputation as a skilled negotiator and consensus builder. Two issues dominated Solana's tenure as NATO chief: the civil war in the former Yugoslavia, including the Bosnian Conflict, and alliance expansion. In Bosnia, plans were already in place for NATO to deploy peacekeeping forces. In January 1996, NATO deployed a 60,000-member peacekeeping mission in Bosnia, the Implementation Force--the mission was subsequently transitioned to the Stabilization Force. This deployment marked the first significant deployment of NATO forces outside of the alliance's territory. Solana endorsed the continued union between Serbia and Montenegro as a means to prevent the further disintegration of the former Yugoslavia, including the potential independence of Kosovo. Solana warned Montenegrin leaders against independence, but a referendum led to the end of the union with Serbia and complete autonomy for Montenegro, which became Europe's newest nation in 2006.

Member nations agreed on NATO enlargement, but there was considerable debate over the size and scope of the expansion. One faction favored a wide expansion to include as many as 10 countries. Another argued that expansion should be limited to one or two states. At the 1997 Madrid Summit, Solana crafted a compromise in which the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland were invited to become members of the alliance (the countries formally joined NATO in 1999). The Madrid Summit underscored the continuing utility of NATO through the alliance's willingness to include the countries of the former Soviet bloc. To assuage Moscow's concerns, in 1997 Solana negotiated the Founding Act between Russia and NATO. The accord led to the creation of the NATO-Russia Permanent Joint Council, which granted Moscow a nonvoting seat during alliance meetings. Solana also completed the NATO-Ukraine Charter on a Distinctive Partnership in 1997.

In 1999, Solana endeavored to negotiate a peaceful resolution between Serbs and ethnic Albanians in the Kosovo War. International efforts to mediate the conflict failed, and Solana subsequently oversaw the political components of the alliance's 77-day air campaign against Belgrade to protect the Kosovar Albanians. After Serbia agreed to terms, NATO led an international peace enforcement mission, Kosovo Force.

Solana resigned as secretary-general of NATO in October 1999 to accept a position as the EU high representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP). The next month, Solana was also appointed as secretary-general of the Western European Union. In these posts, Solana was able to secure agreement on the creation of a European Rapid Reaction Force to undertake humanitarian and security operations. Solana also secured consensus on CFSP among competing factions in the EU, led by Great Britain and France, who disagreed on the scale of foreign and security cooperation. Solana opposed the U.S.-led invasion in the Iraq War in 2003 and was a vocal critic of American treatment of detainees in the war on terror. He attempted to forge a common EU policy on Iraq, but was unable to bridge the divide between countries that supported the United States, including Britain, the Netherlands, and Italy, and those opposed to military force, including France, Germany, and Belgium. Nonetheless, in spite of differences, in 2004 the EU expanded to include 10 countries in eastern and central Europe that had supported the United States, such as the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland.

Solana's careful diplomacy led to his reappointment as the EU's first foreign minister in 2004 (Solona's position absorbed the existing post of EU commissioner for foreign relations). Solana helped arrange the 2004 "Roadmap for Peace" plan, which endorsed the creation of a Palestinian state in exchange for recognition of Israel and democratic elections in Palestine. In 2005, Solana launched accession negotiations with Ukraine on possible EU membership. Solana campaigned unsuccessfully in France for ratification of the proposed EU constitution. The May 2005 French rejection of the founding document undermined Solana's role as the coordinator for European foreign policy and called into question the future of CFSP.

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