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NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), sometimes called North Atlantic Alliance, Atlantic Alliance or the Western Alliance, is an international organisation for defence collaboration established in 1949, in support of the North Atlantic Treaty signed in Washington, D.C., on April 4, 1949. Its other official name is the French language equivalent, l'Organisation du Traité de l'Atlantique Nord (OTAN).
The core provision of the treaty is Article V, which states:
- The Parties agree that an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all and consequently they agree that, if such an armed attack occurs, each of them, in exercise of the right of individual or collective self-defence recognised by Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations, will assist the Party or Parties so attacked by taking forthwith, individually and in concert with the other Parties, such action as it deems necessary, including the use of armed force, to restore and maintain the security of the North Atlantic area.
This provision was intended so that if the Soviet Union launched an attack against the European allies of the United States, it would be treated as if it was an attack on the United States itself, which had the biggest military and could thus provide the most significant retaliation. However the feared Soviet invasion of Europe never came. Instead, the provision was invoked for the first time in the treaty's history on September 12, 2001, in response to the September 11 attacks on the United States the day before.
Member states
Founding members (1949):
States that joined subsequently:
Greece and Turkey joined the organisation in February 1952. Germany joined as West Germany in 1955 and German unification in 1990 extended the membership to the areas of former East Germany. Spain was admitted on May 30, 1982, and the former Warsaw Pact Countries of Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic made history by becoming members on March 12, 1999.
France is a member of NATO which retired from the military command in 1966 but rejoined in 1992. Iceland, the sole member of NATO which does not have its own military force (the Icelandic Defence Force being the United States Military contingent permanently stationed in Iceland), joined on the condition that they would not be expected to establish one.
Slovenia, Slovakia, the former Warsaw Pact countries of Bulgaria and Romania, and the former republics of the USSR Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, officially acceded to NATO on March 29, 2004. They attended their first NATO meeting in April 2004.
History
 The U.S. President, NATO Secretary General, and the Prime Ministers of Slovenia, Lithuania, Slovakia, Romania, Bulgaria and Estonia after a South Lawn ceremony welcoming them into NATO on March 29, 2004. - April 4, 1949: North Atlantic Treaty signed in Washington, DC.
- July 8, 1997: Three former communist countries, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Poland are invited to joined NATO. They join in 1999.
- September 12, 2001: NATO invoked, for the first time in its history, the collective security clause of its charter. Article 5 states that any attack on a member state is considered an attack against the entire alliance. This came in response to the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attack.
- February 10, 2003: NATO faced a crisis when France and Belgium vetoed the procedure of silent approval concerning the timing of protective measures for Turkey in case of a possible war with Iraq. Germany did not use its right to break the procedure but said it supported the veto.
- April 16, 2003: NATO agreed to take command in August of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan. The decision came at the request of Germany and the Netherlands, the two nations leading ISAF at the time of the agreement. It was approved unanimously by all 19 NATO ambassadors. The handover of control to NATO took place on August 11, and marked the first time in NATO's history that it took charge of a mission outside the north Atlantic area. Canada had originally been slated to take over ISAF by itself on that date.
- June 19, 2003: A major restructuring of the NATO military commands began as the Headquarters of the Supreme Allied Commander, Atlantic was abolished and a new command, Allied Command Transformation was established in Norfolk, Virginia, US.
- March 29, 2004: Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia join NATO.
Secretaries General of NATO
- Hastings Lionel Ismay, 1st Baron Ismay (United Kingdom): April 4, 1952, to May 16, 1957
- Paul-Henri Spaak (Belgium): May 16, 1957, to April 21, 1961
- Dirk Stikker (Netherlands): April 21, 1961, to August 1, 1964
- Manlio Brosio (Italy): August 1, 1964, to October 1, 1971
- Joseph Luns (Netherlands): October 1, 1971, to June 25, 1984
- Peter Carington, 6th Baron Carrington (United Kingdom): June 25, 1984, to July 1, 1988
- Manfred Wörner (Germany): July 1, 1988, to August 13, 1994
- Sergio Balanzino (Italy, acting): August 13, 1994, to October 17, 1994
- Willy Claes (Belgium): October 17, 1994, to October 20, 1995
- Sergio Balanzino (Italy, acting): October 20, 1995, to December 5, 1995
- Javier Solana (Spain): December 5, 1995, to October 6, 1999
- George Robertson (United Kingdom): October 14, 1999, to January 1, 2004
- Jaap de Hoop Scheffer (Netherlands): January 1, 2004, to present
- Dwight D. Eisenhower: April 2, 1951, to May 30, 1952
- Matthew Ridgway: May 30, 1952, to July 11, 1953
- Alfred Gruenther: July 1, 1953, to November 20, 1956
- Lauris Norstad: November 20, 1956, to January 1, 1963
- Lyman Lemnitzer: January 1, 1963, to July 1, 1969
- Andrew Goodpaster: July 1, 1969, to December 15, 1974
- Alexander Haig: December 15, 1974, to July 1, 1979
- Bernard Rogers: July 1, 1979, to June 26, 1987
- John Galvin: June 26, 1987, to June 23, 1992
- John Shalikashvili: June 23, 1992, to October 22, 1993
- George Joulwan: October 22, 1993, to July 11, 1997
- Wesley Clark: July 11, 1997, to May 3, 2000
- Joseph Ralston: May 3, 2000, to January 17, 2003
- James L. Jones: January 17, 2003, to present
Note: Starting with Ridgway, all SACEUR have also simultaneously been CINCEUR.
Debate on the future of NATO
The crumbling of the main "Enemy of the West" in Eastern Europe, as well as dissentions between members about the latest Iraq operations, makes some wonder – in North America as well as in Europe – if NATO has not become obsolete. The terrorist menace could give this institution a new life, but some think also that fighting this new enemy needs a completely different political and military organization, as well as completely different weapons systems other than those on which NATO was built.
In November 2004 after the re-election of President George W. Bush the Norwegian Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik publicly discussed whether Norway would gain by strenghtening her defense relations with the EU. Many Norwegian political analysts consider NATO to be a "politically dead organization". So do several pundits and political leaders in other member nations. These attitudes will of necessity be reflected in future discussions of NATO expansion.
See also
External links
- NATO Official Website (http://www.nato.int/)
- NATO Maintenance and Supply Agency (NAMSA) Official Website (http://www.namsa.nato.int/)
- NATO Response Force Article (http://www.army-technology.com/contractors/missiles/nato.html)
- Basic NATO Documents (http://www.nato.int/docu/basics.htm)
Alternative meaning: National Association of Theatre Owners
bg:НАТО
ca:OTAN
cs:Severoatlantická aliance
cy:Sefydliad Cytundeb Gogledd yr Iwerydd
da:NATO
de:NATO
et:NATO
es:Organización del Tratado del Atlántico Norte
eo:NATO
fr:Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique Nord
ko:북대서양 조약 기구
is:Atlantshafsbandalagið
it:NATO
[[he:נאט"ו]]
lt:NATO
hu:NATO
nl:NAVO
ja:北大西洋条約機構
no:NATO
pl:NATO
pt:Organização do Tratado do Atlântico Norte
ro:Organizaţia Tratatului Atlanticului de Nord
ru:НАТО
sl:NATO
fi:NATO
sv:NATO
uk:НАТО
zh:北大西洋公约组织
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