NATO Explained! | What is NATO? | Who are the members? | How dose it work?
What is NATO?
NATO is an acronym for North Atlantic Treaty Organization; it is a military alliance between countries in North America and Europe. NATO was formed after World War II and the onset of the Cold War to preserve peace in Europe and protect democratic nations from potential attacks by the communist Soviet Union.
Who are the NATO members and how did they all come together?
NATO was formed on April 4, 1949. The 12 founding member members Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, the United Kingdom, and the United States all met in Washington DC and signed the agreement.
The Korean war led NATO to develop military structure, included the formation of Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE), posted Secretary General of NATO and started military exercises with allied forces.
In 1952, Greece and Turkey joined.
After the London – Paris conferences to determine West Germany’s status, Paris Accords were signed to give West Germany some sovereignty and this led to West Germany’s membership to NATO in 1955.
This put the Soviet Union at defense so the Soviet Union and seven other Eastern Bloc nations, Albania, Poland, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary and Romania signed the Warsaw Pact, delineating the two opposing sides of the Cold War.
The building of the Berlin Wall was a significant point of the Cold War. Concern about NATO’s strength, credibility and relationship between the European countries and the United States were questioned, particularly after the USA refused to integrate France's nuclear deterrent with NATO, France withdrew from NATO in 1966.
In 1982, Spain joined NATO.
In 1990, The allies signed a Treaty of Conventional Armed Forces in Europe with the Soviet Union, mandating military reductions across the continent. The following year Communism collapsed and the Warsaw Pact ended but the treaty lived on and it. With Communism in Europe on its knees, It seemed like there was no need for NATO, so European members' military spending declined. Since the beginning of NATO, United States covered the large potation the cost
The cooperation between the Allies was too good to pass up, so NATO extended its reach to include political and humanitarian situations; these weren’t the original goals. During the break-up of Yugoslavia, NATO conducted its first military interventions.
NATO wanted to build better relations with the newly autonomous Central and Eastern European countries and set up a Partnership for Peace program. At the 1999 Washington summit, Hungary, Poland, and the Czech Republic officially joined NATO.
NATO grew even bigger when Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia all joined 2004, then in 2009, Albania and Croatia came on board NATO. Montenegro in 2017 and North Macedonia in 2020.
In 2007, France military was reformed and became a full member again in 2009. Currently NOTO has 30 members.
What is NATO’s future and which countries could become a NATO member in the future?
This is the story of NATO so far but what is the future?
NATO is been involved in various capacity including peacekeeping in many conflicts including Bosnian War, Kosovo intervention, Iraq training mission, Gulf of Aden anti-piracy and Libya intervention to name a few
Which countries could become a NOAT member in the future?
According to NATO, membership is open to any European country interested in NATO principles and to contribute to the security of the North Atlantic area. NATO has a list of aspiring members, which include Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Macedonia, and Ukraine.
NATO is expanding and establish Enhanced Opportunities Partners (Australia, Finland, Georgia, Jordan, Sweden and Ukraine) expands beyond North America and Europe, so as the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative (Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait and United Arab Emirates).
Partnership for Peace is one of the notable NATO program; the program goal is to build trust between the NATO and nonmember European countries.
Membership include 20 European countries, in 1994, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Finland, Georgia, Moldova, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan joined the peace program. In 1995, Austria, and Belarus joined the program. In 1999, Ireland. In 2002, Tajikistan. In 2006, Bosnia and Herzegovnia and Serbia and In 2008 Malta in 2008
Are you surprise see Russia is a member of Partnership for Peace program. Russia’s commitment to peace is questionable and there is an increased desire to review Russia’s membership after invasions of Georgia in 2008, Crimea in 2014 and the Ukraine in 2022.
NATO has taken a place as a world police. The UN Security Council should be doing some of the NATO’s job but NATO is in better position to tackle the issues and some timework with UN Security Council. Let me know if you have any more question about NATO
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