Nato

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is a military alliance formed following World War II. In a treaty signed on April 4, 1949, the United States and its allies created a mutual defense organization in the wake of the Soviet occupation of Eastern Europe. Currently comprised of 28 member nations across North America and Europe, NATO is headquartered in Brussels, Belgium. Paper Masters can compose a custom written research paper on NATO that follows your guidelines.

The Creation of NATO

With the Soviet occupation of much of Europe and the blockade of Berlin, western powers created an alliance to counterbalance the USSR. These powers included:

• Belgium
• The Netherlands
• Luxembourg
• France
• United Kingdom
• United States
• Canada
• Portugal
• Italy
• Norway
• Denmark
• Iceland

NATO's first real test came with the Korean War in 1950. NATO countries each pledged troops in support of a democratic South Korea. Greece and Turkey joined NATO in 1952, and the USSR suggested joining in 1954, but this move was rejected by NATO members. As a result, the USSR formed the Warsaw Pact as a communist mirror organization.

NATO Today

With the collapse of communism in 1989, much of the original purpose of NATO no longer existed. Many former Soviet bloc nations have since joined NATO. Following the 9/11 attacks, Article 5 of the NATO charter was invoked for the first time, since an attack on one NATO member is considered an attack on all NATO countries, and NATO took command of non-American military operations in Afghanistan.