North Atlantic Treaty Organization [NATO]

Hey readers! 

This blog is about an important alliance founded in the aftermath of World War 2 in order to secure peace in Europe to promote cooperation among its members and guard their freedom. What followed its establishment was the Cold War. Yes, you got that right! Today we will be talking about the North Atlantic Treaty Organization [NATO].

North Atlantic Treaty Organization [NATO] is a military alliance established by the North Atlantic Treaty [Washington Treaty] on 4 April, 1949 by the United States, Canada and several Western European nations to provide collective security against the Soviet Union. It comprises of 30 member states and had 12 original members namely; USA, UK, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Italy, Iceland, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Norway and Portugal. It has its headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. 

NATO promotes democratic and diplomatic values and enables its members to consult amongst each other on defense and security-related issues. Article 4 of the NATO Charter talks about this provision and has been invoked 7 times since its establishment. NATO aims at building trust and prevent conflicts in the long run. It is firmly committed to peaceful resolution of disputes. However, if diplomatic efforts fail, it has the military to manage crises. An attack on a NATO member is considered as an attack to all the members too. These objectives are carried out under the Article 5 of the NATO Charter. NATO has only once invoked the Article 5 which was on September 12, 2001 following the 9/11 attacks in the USA. 

NATO also participates in three other alliances that expands its influence beyond the 30 member countries. These are Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council [EAPC], Mediterranean Dialogue and Istanbul Cooperation Initiative [ICI]. These alliances offer the non-NATO countries with an opportunity to cooperate with NATO.

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