The former Dutch foreign minister takes over the world's biggest military alliance at a turning point in its history, when for the first time it has sent forces outside its traditional European theatre of operations to lead peacekeepers in Afghanistan.

He will have his diplomatic skills tested as he seeks to steer a steady course for the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation which was almost torn apart by the transatlantic tensions of the Iraq crisis.

"It is very important to keep the alliance, that is the American side and the European NATO members well on the same track," he said after his nomination in September.

He is the third Dutchman to head the alliance, following Joseph Luns, who died last year at the age of 90 and who guided NATO through the Cold War years from 1971 to 1984, and Dirk Stikker who was secretary general from 1961 to

Luns was a witty conservative who upon being appointed joint foreign minister in one of the Netherlands' interminable coalition negotiations said two ministers were necessary because "as a small country we have a tremendous amount of outside world to cope with."

De Hoop Scheffer, in contrast is a dry diplomat not noted for such bon mots.

While Luns was ready to confront his countrymen on issues such as the basing of medium-range US missiles in Europe, de Hoop Scheffer steers clear of controversy -- but without compromising his firm views on European union and the importance of transatlantic relations.

"A European foreign policy that stood apart from the United States would be against the interests of the European Union," he says.

De Hoop Scheffer supported the United States politically throughout the Iraq war, without attracting the epithet of "America's lapdog" that the opposition launched against Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende.

But he also declined to sign the letter of support for the Americans drawn up by Spain, Italy and several countries in Eastern Europe, because, he said, he did not wish to create a division between Europeans.

That scored him points in Paris and Berlin, which were strongly opposed to the war.

Although the Netherlands sent no forces to Iraq after the war, it has sent 1,100 men there to help the US-led stabilisation effort.

As the head of NATO De Hoop Scheffer will have to tread lightly to keep all members of the alliance happy.

"Luckily Jaap is very skilled at walking on eggshells," says former Dutch foreign minister Hans van den Broek.

The outgoing NATO secretary general, George Robertson, has overseen a key phase of the alliance's transformation from a Cold War-era bloc to a global security organisation in the wake of September 11, and its expansion to include the countries of formerly Soviet-controlled East Europe.

But America's role as the dominating superpower and the desire of some European countries to create an independent military command have brought new strains to the alliance.

De Hoop Scheffer's past as a "European Atlanticist" put him in a good position to restore the unity of NATO, which was badly compromised by the divisions over Iraq.

"The secretary general can play an important role in building bridges. Unity makes or breaks the credibility and the decisiveness of the alliance, " Van den Broek said.

Born in Amsterdam on April 3, 1948, de Hoop Scheffer obtained a doctorate in law before entering the foreign service. After missions in Ghana and at NATO headquarters, he was the private secretary to four successive Dutch foreign ministers.

Married, with two daughters, he enjoys running in his spare moments.

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