The Origins of NATO
NATO was created as a counterpoint to the expansionist policies and methods of the USSR. The years immediately following the end of the Second World War saw a series of dramatic events, including direct threats to the sovereignty of Norway, Greece, Turkey and other Western European countries; the start of the illegal blockade of West Berlin by the Soviet Union in April 1948; and the coup in Czechoslovakia the following June.
The signature of the Brussels Treaty in 1948 signalled the determination of five Western European countries - Belgium, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom - to strengthen the ties between them and develop a common defence system to enable them to resist the ideological, military and political threats to their security through the Western Union Defence Organisation.
The following year, the North Atlantic Alliance was born with the signature of the North Atlantic Treaty in Washington by the five nations of the Western Union, Denmark, Iceland, Italy, Norway, Portugal, Canada and the United States; an Alliance that based on shared values and standards, backed up with a clear recognition that the security of its American and European Allies is indivisible.
In signing the Treaty, the 12 Allies reaffirms their faith in the purposes and principles of the UN and of their desire to live in peace with all peoples and governments; to safeguard the freedom, common heritage and civilization of their peoples, founded on the principles of democracy, individual liberty and the rule of law; to promote stability and security in the North Atlantic area; and their resolve to unite for collective defence and the preservation of peace and security.
In 1952 Greece and Turkey acceded to the Treaty. The Federal Republic of Germany acceded to the Alliance 1955, with Spain following in 1982. After the unification of Germany, the former German Democratic Republic came under the protection of NATO in 1990. The Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland joined NATO in 1999; and Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia in 2004.
NATO undertook its first military operation in 1995 to help end the civil war in the former Yugoslav republic of Bosnia-Herzegovina. In 1999 it embarked on a peacekeeping mission in Kosovo. Operation ACTIVE ENDEAVOUR, a maritime counter-terrorism operation in the Mediterranean was launched in 2001, and in 2003 NATO assumed responsibility for the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) from Coalition Forces. From 2004, NATO has been assisting in the training of Iraqi Security Forces.
Organisation
Each of the 26 Allies has a permanent representative at the NATO Headquarters in Brussels, where the main decision-making body – the North Atlantic Council - meets weekly under the chairmanship of the NATO Secretary-General. NATO Foreign and Defence Ministers meet at special session at least twice a year, and Summit meetings of NATO Heads of State and Government are help periodically. There are two Strategic Command - Allied Command for Operations in Mons, Belgium and Allied Command for Transformation in Norfolk, Virginia.
NATO Today
The type of threats that NATO faces today are of course very different to those of the Cold War, but the underlying principles of collective defence and multinational operations are as relevant today as ever they were. And NATO Allies are just as clear about the challenges now facing them: international terrorism, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery, and the instability caused by failed and failing states. These challenges are articulated in NATO's Comprehensive Political Guidance, which was agreed at the Riga Summit in 2006.
These are not challenges that can best be met individual states: they require a multinational response. They will increasingly require NATO to operate outside the Euro-Atlantic area, for which will be needed the continued development of modern, rapidly deployable and sustainable expeditionary capabilities, of the kind available in the NATO Response Force. It also requires institutional and structural reform - including better means of co-operating with other international organisations - so that the Alliance is optimised to support complex operations of the kind we see in Afghanistan.
Partnerships
NATO's partnership work (through Partnership for Peace, the Mediterranean Dialogue, the Istanbul Conference Initiative, the NATO-Russia Council and the NATO-Ukraine Commissions) has proved to be a great success. It has helped manage fundamental changes to the shape of Europe; has started networks of dialogue and co-operation with the Mediterranean, the broader Middle East, the Caucasus, Central Asia and beyond; and has stimulated defence reform and military co-operation, helping many non-Allies make valuable contributions to NATO operations.
The Alliance continues to have an open door to membership to those European nations that meet its performance standards and share its values. Albania, Croatia and Macedonia are currently preparing for possible accession through their Membership Action Plans, while Georgia and Ukraine are participating in an Intensified Dialogue with NATO - the first step on the road to possible membership.
Further detail can be found on the FCO NATO and the NATO websites.