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NATO – Members, Objectives, Mission, NATO UPSC Notes

By BYJU'S Exam Prep

Updated on: November 14th, 2023

NATO is an acronym that stands for North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It is an intergovernmental military alliance based on the North Atlantic Treaty which was signed in 1949. The organization was formed as a means to ensure collective security in Western Europe. NATO was originally established by the United States, Canada, and several Western European nations to provide collective security against the Soviet Union. The Headquarter is situated in Brussels, Belgium. At present, NATO has 30 member states.

The main objective of NATO is to protect the independence and security of the Allies via political and military action. With the recent Russia-Ukraine war, North Atlantic Treaty Organization has been in the news. Go through the article to understand more about NATO Members, their alliance, and the objectives the group holds.

NATO – North Atlantic Treaty Organization

NATO is an acronym that stands for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization; it is also known as the North Atlantic Alliance. NATO is an intergovernmental military association that is based on the North Atlantic Treaty that was signed on April 4th, 1949. NATO consists of some countries which have constituted a system of collective defense in order to respond to and counter an attack by a non-NATO member.

NATO is headquartered at Boulevard Leopold III in Brussels, Belgium.

North Atlantic Treaty Organization was formed to provide collective security to Western Europe. This is because relations between the United States and the USSR continuously deteriorated even after World War 2. The USSR was looking to expand itself in Europe by spreading communalism. The United States saw this move by the USSR as a threat to the defense system of their country and hence decided to form NATO.

History of NATO

Before we start to learn about the working style of NATO, let’s take a brief look at its history.

  • World War 2 happened in 1945. Soon after that, western Europe underwent a financial and military crisis.
  • In 1948, the United States granted the fund to some countries in Europe on the condition that they would cooperate with each other and accelerate their mutual recovery.
  • By the end of the Second World War, the United States and the USSR had developed certain clashes that eventually led to the cold war between them. Because the USSR wanted to expand its arms in Europe by spreading communalism, whereas the United States saw this as a threat to its military.
  • In 1955, the cold war was geared up between the USSR and the United States. As a result of this, the Soviet Union signed a pact. This pact was called the Warsaw Pact, which was purely a military-political alliance. This pact was seen as a direct counterbalance to NATO.

NATO Members

NATO is an organization that is an association of 30 member countries. North Montenegro became part of NATO in 2020. Other countries of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization include:

Belgium (1949) The United States (1949) Estonia (2004)
Canada (1949) The United Kingdom (1949) Latvia (2004)
Denmark (1949) Greece (1952) Lithuania (2004)
France (1949) Turkey (1952) Romania (2004)
Iceland (1949) Germany (1955) Slovakia (2004)
Italy (1949) Spain (1982) Slovenia (2004)
Luxembourg (1949) Czech Republic (1999) Albania (2009)
The Netherlands (1949) Poland (1999) Croatia (2009)
Norway (1949) Hungary (1999) Montenegro (2017)
Portugal (1949) Bulgaria (2004) North Mecedonia (2020)

Out of all these countries, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, the United States, and the United Kingdom were the founding member countries of NATO.

Objectives of NATO

The prime objective of NATO is to provide security and safeguard its members from non-NATO members in terms of defense and political attack. Other objectives of NATO include:

  • NATO promotes democratic values and allows the members to have discussions after intervals to have a word on the issues related to security and defense, which may help to prevent long-term conflict.
  • NATO ensures the safeguarding of its member countries and provides a peaceful resolution to any dispute (if any). The initial level to sort out the problems is on diplomatic grounds. Later, if required, military power can also be used to solve the crisis.
  • These activities are conducted pursuant to NATO’s founding Treaty Article 5 of the Washington Treaty or pursuant to United Nations mandates which are alone or in cooperation with other international organizations.
  • Article 5 has been voted on only once by NATO following the attacks of 9/11 on the World Trade Centre in 2001.

Purpose of NATO

NATO is an alliance of 30 countries that guarantees freedom and security to its members through military and political means. The main purpose of NATO includes:

  • NATO aims to provide a long-lasting peaceful environment in European countries based on the individual values of liberal democracy, human rights, and the rule of law.
  • NATO personifies the trans-Atlantic link that helps to secure Europe from North America.
  • NATO provides a common platform for many countries that they can use to have discussions over political and military issues and take decisions on the problems that may affect their security.
  • NATO responds to nonmember threads by utilizing collective defense and proper crisis management by encouraging cooperative security, as outlined in the 2010 strategic concept.

Alliances of NATO

NATO participates in three alliances that expand its influence beyond its 30 member countries, which include:

  • Mediterranean Dialogue: It is a partnership forum that aims to contribute to security and stability in NATO’s Mediterranean and North African neighborhoods and promote good relations and understanding among participating countries and NATO Allies. Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Mauritania, Morocco, and Tunisia take cards in this dialogue.
  • Istanbul Cooperation Initiative (ICI): Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates currently participate in the Initiative. ICI is a partnership forum that aims to contribute to long-term global and regional security by offering non-NATO countries in the broader Middle East region the opportunity to cooperate with NATO.
  • Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council (EAPC): It is a 50-nation multilateral forum for dialogue and consultation on political and security-related issues among Allies and partner countries. It provides the overall political framework for NATO’s cooperation with partner countries in the Euro-Atlantic area and for the bilateral relationships developed between NATO and individual partner countries under the Partnership for Peace (PfP) program.

Latest News on NATO

The latest happenings related to North-Atlantic Treaty Organization are:

  • Finland and Sweden submitted their application to join North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Although Finland and Sweden have a non-alignment policy, they were always close to NATO. The 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine prompted them to join NATO and seek its safety net.
  • Leaders of G7, NATO, and the European Union gathered for the NATO summit in Brussels, Belgium, in March 2022.
  • The military exercise ‘Cold Response 2022’ has been organized by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in Norway starting from 14th March till 1st April 2022. This exercise is held biennially in Norway and NATO Allies, and partner nations take part.

NATO UPSC

There are many world-level organizations and groups which are important from the exam perspective. International relations is a very important yet dynamic portion of the UPSC Syllabus, and multiple questions have been asked in Prelims and Mains.

The best method to learn about NATO is by referring to the UPSC International Relations Books as they cover the basics and history of the organization.

NATO UPSC Questions

NATO holds more significance from the Mains exam perspective. One should keep referring to Current Affairs to be updated with all the recent happenings and to write multi-dimensional answers.

Question: Which of the following international organization has started the scheme of Partnership for Peace for a Group of Nations?

A) Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries(OPEC)

B) North-Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)

C) Organization of African Unity (OAU)

D) Economic and Social Commission for Asia and Pacific (ESCAP)

Answer:  North-Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)

Question: Analyze the history of NATO and if it is still relevant in today’s geopolitics.
Question: Evaluate NATO’s (the North Atlantic Treaty Organization) contribution to maintaining international peace.

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