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NATO. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization ( NATO / ˈneɪtoʊ / NAY-toh; French: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, OTAN ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance of 32 member states —30 European and 2 North American. Established in the aftermath of World War II, the organization ...
NATO is a political and military alliance of countries from Europe and North America. Find out the latest news on NATO's activities, relations, history and challenges, as well as its 75th anniversary in 2024.
NATO is a political and military alliance of 32 countries from Europe and North America. It guarantees the freedom and security of its members, cooperates with partners and responds to threats and crises.
- Overview
- Historical background
- Organization
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is a military alliance originally established in 1949 to create a counterweight to Soviet armies stationed in central and eastern Europe after World War II. When the Cold War ended, NATO was reconceived as a “cooperative-security” organization.
What does NATO stand for?
NATO is an acronym for North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
How many countries are in NATO?
Currently 31 countries are members of NATO.
Which countries are in NATO?
After World War II in 1945, western Europe was economically exhausted and militarily weak (the western Allies had rapidly and drastically reduced their armies at the end of the war), and newly powerful communist parties had arisen in France and Italy. By contrast, the Soviet Union had emerged from the war with its armies dominating all the states of central and eastern Europe, and by 1948 communists under Moscow’s sponsorship had consolidated their control of the governments of those countries and suppressed all noncommunist political activity. What became known as the Iron Curtain, a term popularized by Winston Churchill, had descended over central and eastern Europe. Further, wartime cooperation between the western Allies and the Soviets had completely broken down. Each side was organizing its own sector of occupied Germany, so that two German states would emerge, a democratic one in the west and a communist one in the east.
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In 1948 the United States launched the Marshall Plan, which infused massive amounts of economic aid to the countries of western and southern Europe on the condition that they cooperate with each other and engage in joint planning to hasten their mutual recovery. As for military recovery, under the Brussels Treaty of 1948, the United Kingdom, France, and the Low Countries—Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg—concluded a collective-defense agreement called the Western European Union. It was soon recognized, however, that a more formidable alliance would be required to provide an adequate military counterweight to the Soviets.
Spurred by the North Korean invasion of South Korea in June 1950 (see Korean War), the United States took steps to demonstrate that it would resist any Soviet military expansion or pressures in Europe. Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, the leader of the Allied forces in western Europe in World War II, was named Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) by the North Atlantic Council (NATO’s governing body) in December 1950. He was followed as SACEUR by a succession of American generals.
The North Atlantic Council, which was established soon after the treaty came into effect, is composed of ministerial representatives of the member states, who meet at least twice a year. At other times the council, chaired by the NATO secretary-general, remains in permanent session at the ambassadorial level. Just as the position of SACEUR has always been held by an American, the secretary-generalship has always been held by a European.
- David G. Haglund
Mar 11, 2024 · Learn about the 32 countries that are part of NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and how they joined the Alliance since 1949. Find out how each country contributes to the political and security cooperation of NATO and what makes their membership flexible and diverse.
Jul 11, 2024 · Nato - the North Atlantic Treaty Organization - was formed in 1949 by 12 countries, including the US, UK, Canada and France. Its founding treaty was signed in Washington DC, and leaders of Nato ...
Founding members and enlargement. NATO was established on 4 April 1949 via the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty (Washington Treaty). The 12 founding members of the Alliance were: Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, the United Kingdom, and the United States. [4]
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