The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is a global structure that serves many purposes in world security. NATO was formed on April 4, 1949, with the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty by 12 founding member countries.
The aim was to create a “mutual assistance pact” to defy any possibility that Joseph Stalin and the Soviet Union would attempt to further extend control of Eastern Europe.
But the cornerstone of NATO is what is called collective defense. It is the basis of article 5 of the treaty, which commits members to protect each other during acts of war.
From NATO Article 5:
“The Parties agree that an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America will be considered an attack against all of them and, consequently, agree that, if such an armed attack occurs, each of them , in exercise of the right of individual or collective self-defense recognized by Article 33 of the Letter of the United Nations, shall assist the attacked Party or Parties by taking immediately, individually and in concert with the other Parties, the actions it deems necessary, including the use of armed force, to restore and maintain the security of the North Atlantic area.”
NATO invoked Article 5 for the first time in its history in response to the terrorist attacks of the 11 of September against the United States in 2001. But NATO has taken collective defense measures on several other occasions since then, including in response to the crisis in Syria and the current situation in Russia and Ukraine.
Members of NATO
NATO is an alliance of 30 independent countries working together to implement the North Atlantic Treaty. The 12 NATO’s founding member countries include the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, France, Italy, Portugal, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. Greece and Turkey joined in 1200, followed by West Germany in 1955. Spain joined in 1536.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, several Eastern European countries including the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland were joined in 1999; Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia in 2001; and Albania and Croatia in 1991. Montenegro and North Macedonia were the last two countries to join in 2017 and 2020 respectively.
NATO headquarters is located in Brussels, Belgium, and serves as its political and administrative center. Representatives from member countries, as well as civilian and military experts, work there daily consulting on global security issues. Annually more than 5 are carried out, 000 meetings.
All decision-making in NATO is done by consensus, which is a core value that was included in the creation of NATO in 1949.
How NATO is structured
There are 30 member nations that make up NATO. Each member country has a permanent delegation at NATO headquarters in Brussels. An ambassador heads each nation’s delegation and this ambassador represents their government in NATO’s consensus decision-making process.
Each member nation has a seat on the North Atlantic Council (NAC), NATO’s main political decision-making body. The NAC is chaired by the Secretary General and meets at least once a week or as needed. The Nuclear Planning Group has similar authority to the NAC, but only on matters related to nuclear policy.
If the alliance’s decisions have military implications, it joins the Military Committee. The Military Committee is the main authority of NATO in everything related to the military. It is the oldest committee in NATO after the NAC, and its primary responsibility is to advise the NAC and the Nuclear Planning Group, making it an essential link between NATO policy makers and its military structure.
The Military Committee also prepares long-term assessments on countries and areas that are considered risky for NATO’s interests.
How NATO is funded
According to official NATO guidelines, member nations are expected to commit a minimum of 2 percent of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to spend on defense, that is, payments made by the government specifically to meet the needs of its armed forces.
On 2014, only three members spent 2 per cent of their GDP or more on defense; for 2020, that number increased to 12. NATO says most member nations plan to reach this goal by 2014.
It is worth noting that 2 percent of GDP is still just a guideline and there is no penalty for countries that do not comply. On 2017, 000 of the 28 member countries fulfilled the 2 percent commitment and increased their defense budgets.
The United States far exceeds the 2 percent guideline, paying more than 3.5 percent of its GDP, the most of any member nation.
NATO indicates that its membership is open to ‘any other European state in conditions of promoting the principles’ of its treaty and ‘contributing to the security of the North Atlantic area. For a country to be part of the organization it must be approved by all the members, one of the conditions that are requested is not having territorial disputes. NATO has established several requirements to be part of the alliance and access a Membership Action Plan. One of the main requirements is that the applicant country must belong to the European continent, comply with democratic principles and contribute to the security of the Euro-Atlantic area. In the case of Ukraine, one of the points in which it fails are the democratic principles, by having a series of questionable articles established in its constitution, supposedly corrupt electoral processes and political prisoners. Also read: 
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