NOTES TO REMEMBER: HISTORY OF NATO

NATO was founded because of the following reasons:

 Threat of the Soviet Union (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics)

 Deterring of Soviet Expansionism
 Forbidding the revival of nationalist militarism in Europe
 European political integration

Note: NATO is the basis of a strong North American presence in Europe.

Realizations of foundation:

 36.5 million Europeans had died during World War II. (19 million of them are
civilians)
 Refugee camps and rationing dominated daily life.
 Infant mortality rates were one in four
 Millions of orphans wandered the burnt-out shells of former metropolises
 Half a million people were homeless.

Additional Realizations:

 Communists aided by the Soviet Union were threatening elected

governments across Europe.
 The Soviets blockaded Allied-controlled West Berlin in a bid to consolidate
their hold on the German capital. The heroism of the Berlin Airlift provided
future Allies with some solace, but privation remained a grave threat to
freedom and stability.

DATES TO REMEMBER:

 1948: Creation of the Western Union.

 1949: North Atlantic Treaty was signed.
Note: Treaty’s renowned Article 5, the new Allies agreed “an armed attack
against one or more of them… shall be considered an attack against them all”
and that following such an attack, each Ally would take “such action as it
deems necessary, including the use of armed force” in response.
Significantly, Articles 2 and 3 of the Treaty had important purposes not
immediately germane to the threat of attack. Article 3 laid the foundation for
cooperation in military preparedness between the Allies, and Article 2 allowed
them some leeway to engage in non-military cooperation.
 1954: Renamed as Western European Union.
 1949-1950: Outbreak of Korean War.
Note: NATO soon gained a consolidated command structure with a military
Headquarters based in the Parisian suburb of Rocquencourt, near Versailles.
 This was Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe, or SHAPE, with US
General Dwight D. Eisenhower as the first Supreme Allied Commander
Europe, or SACEUR. Soon afterward, the Allies established a permanent
civilian secretariat in Paris, and named NATO’s first Secretary General, Lord
Ismay of the United Kingdom.
 1952: Greece & Turkey joined NATO.
 1955: West Germany joined NATO.
 1955: Warsaw Pact was formed.
 1961: Construction of the Berlin Wall.
 1956: Fall of the Suez Canal urged NATO Members to turn also to its Political
Role cooperation.
 1956: NATO entered to scientific cooperation and established the NATO
Scientific Program.
 1960: Start of the Cold War.
 1966: France announced its intention to withdraw from the NATO Military
Command Structure.
 1967: The present Headquarters of NATO was moved to Brussels, Belgium.
 1967: The future tasks of the Alliance were presented.
 1973: The Harmel Report helped to lay the foundation for the convening of
the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe.
 1983: NATO Troops were deployed.
Note: The 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the Soviet deployment of
SS-20 Saber ballistic missiles in Europe led to the suspension of détente. To
counter the Soviet deployment, Allies made the “dual track” decision to
deploy nuclear-capable Pershing II and ground-launched cruise missiles in
Western Europe while continuing negotiations with the Soviets. The
deployment was not scheduled to begin until 1983. In the meantime, the
Allies hoped to achieve an arms control agreement that would eliminate the
need for the weapons.
 1982: Spain joined the NATO alliance (Spanish Transition to Democracy).
 1989: Fall of the Berlin Wall.
 1991: NATO was to be the foundation stone for a larger, pan-European
security architecture. (The Allies established the North Atlantic Cooperation
Council, renamed the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council in 1997.)
 1994: the Alliance founded the Mediterranean Dialogue with six non-member
Mediterranean countries: Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Mauritania, Morocco and
Tunisia. (Algeria also joining in 2000).
 1994: NATO created the created the Partnership for Peace program, or PfP.
 1995: NATO intervened in the Yugoslav Civil War (In 2004, NATO handed
over this role to the European Union).
 1998: NATO intervened in the Kosovo War.
 Note: Today, KFOR troops are still deployed in Kosovo to help maintain a
safe and secure environment and freedom of movement for all citizens,
irrespective of their ethnic origin.
 1999: Washington Summit was held. Poland, Czech Republic and Hungary
joined the NATO.
 1999: NATO stated that since the end of the Cold War, the world had come
to face “complex new risks to Euro-Atlantic peace and security, including
oppression, ethnic conflict, economic distress, the collapse of political order,
and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.” These words would
soon prove prescient.
 2001 to present: NATO is currently participating in the Operation Enduring
Freedom of the War on Terrorism.

Member-States of NATO:

Belgium

Canada

Denmark

France

Iceland

August 24, 1949 Italy

Luxembourg

Netherlands

Norway

Portugal

United Kingdom

United States

February 18, 1952 Greece

Turkey

May 6, 1955 Germany

May 30, 1982 Spain

Czech Republic

March 12, 1999 Hungary

Poland

Bulgaria

Estonia

Latvia

March 29, 2004 Lithuania

Romania

Slovakia

Slovenia

April 1, 2009 Albania

Croatia

June 5, 2017 Montenegro

Important Notes:

1. NATO endured because while the Soviet Union was no more, the Alliance’s
two other original if unspoken mandates still held: to deter the rise of
militant nationalism and to provide the foundation of collective security
that would encourage democratisation and political integration in Europe.
The definition of “Europe” had merely expanded eastward. Before the
consolidation of peace and security could begin, however, one spectre
haunting European politics remained to be exorcised. Since the Franco-
Prussian War, Europe had struggled to come to terms with a united
Germany at its heart. The incorporation of a re-unified Germany into the
Alliance put this most ancient and destructive of dilemmas to rest.
2. Since its founding in 1949, the transatlantic Alliance’s flexibility,
embedded in its original Treaty, has allowed it to suit the different
requirements of different times. In the 1950s, the Alliance was a purely
defensive organization. In the 1960s, NATO became a political instrument
 for détente. In the 1990s, the Alliance was a tool for the stabilization of
Eastern Europe and Central Asia through the incorporation of new
Partners and Allies. In the first half of the 21st century, NATO faces an
ever-growing number of new threats. As the foundation stone of
transatlantic peace and freedom, NATO must be ready to meet this
challenge.

References:

https://www.nato.int/

https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/declassified_139339.htm

Prepared by:

Vince Alcon V. Azarcon

03-1516-01010

III-AB Political Science

NATO MEMBER COUNTRIES

At present, NATO has 29 members. In 1949, there were 12 founding members of the Alliance:
Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal,
the United Kingdom and the United States. The other member countries are: Greece and Turkey
(1952), Germany (1955), Spain (1982), the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland (1999), Bulgaria,
Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia (2004), Albania and Croatia (2009), and
Montenegro (2017).

Highlights

 Provision for enlargement is given by Article 10 of the North Atlantic Treaty.

 Article 10 states that membership is open to any “European State in a position to further the
principles of this Treaty and to contribute to the security of the North Atlantic area”.

 Any decision to invite a country to join the Alliance is taken by the North Atlantic Council,
NATO’s principal political decision-making body, on the basis of consensus among all Allies.

 Currently, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia¹ are
aspiring members.
 NATO’s door remains open to any European country in a position to undertake the commitments
and obligations of membership, and contribute to security in the Euro-Atlantic area. Since 1949, NATO’s
membership has increased from 12 to 29 countries through seven rounds of enlargement. Currently,
three partner countries have declared their aspirations to NATO membership: Bosnia and Herzegovina,
Georgia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia¹.
Accession Process
Once the Allies have decided to invite a country to become a member of NATO, they officially invite
the country to begin accession talks with the Alliance. This is the first step in the accession process on
the way to formal membership. The major steps in the process are:
1. Accession talks with a NATO team

2. Invitees send letters of intent to NATO, along with timetables for completion of reforms

3. Accession protocols are signed by NATO countries

4. Accession protocols are ratified by NATO countries

5. The Secretary General invites the potential new members to accede to the North Atlantic
Treaty

6. Invitees accede to the North Atlantic Treaty in accordance with their national procedures

7. Upon depositing their instruments of accession with the US State Department, invitees formally
become NATO members

Structure of NATO
Secretary General
The Secretary General is NATO’s top international civil servant and has three principal roles.

Chairman of the North Atlantic Council and other key bodies

First and foremost, the Secretary General chairs the North Atlantic Council - the Alliance’s
principal political decision-making body - as well as other senior decision-making committees.
These include the Nuclear Planning Group, the NATO-Russia Council and the Euro-Atlantic
Partnership Council. Additionally, together with a Ukrainian representative, he is the chairman
of the NATO-Ukraine Commission, as well as the chairman of the NATO-Georgia Commission.

Above and beyond the role of chairman, the Secretary General has the authority to propose
items for discussion and use his good offices in case of disputes between member states. He
acts as a decision facilitator, leading and guiding the process of consensus-building and
decision-making throughout the Alliance.

He maintains direct contact with heads of state and government, foreign and defense ministers
in NATO and partner countries, in order to facilitate this process. This entails regular visits to
NATO and partner countries, as well as bilateral meetings with senior national officials when
they visit NATO Headquarters.

Effectively, his role allows him to exert some influence on the decision-making process while
respecting the fundamental principle that the authority for taking decisions is invested only in
the member governments themselves.

Principal spokesperson

The Secretary General is also the principal spokesman of the Alliance and represents the
Alliance in public on behalf of the member countries, reflecting their common positions on
political issues.

He also represents NATO vis-à-vis other international organizations as well as to the media and
the public at large. To this end the Secretary General regularly holds press briefings and
conferences as well as public lectures and speeches.

Head of the International Staff

Third and lastly, the Secretary General is the senior executive officer of the NATO International
Staff, responsible for making staff appointments and overseeing its work.

Selection process

The Secretary General is a senior statesman from a NATO member country, appointed by
member states for a four-year term. The selection is carried through informal diplomatic
consultations among member countries, which put forward candidates for the post.

No decision is confirmed until consensus is reached on one candidate. At the end of his term,
the incumbent might be offered to stay on for a fifth year.

The position has traditionally been held by a European statesman.

The current Secretary General is Jens Stoltenberg, the former Prime Minister of Norway, who
took office on 1 October 2014.

Deputy Secretary General

The alliance’s second most senior international civil servant. She’s the one who assists the
Secretary General and replaces him in his absence. The Deputy Secretary General is also the
chairman of a number of senior committees, ad hoc groups and working groups.

The current NATO Deputy Secretary General is Rose Gottemoeller. Gottemoeller became the
first female Deputy Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization on October 17,
2016.

Private Office (Principal Officials)

The Private Office supports the Secretary General and the Deputy Secretary General in all
aspects of their work. It is headed by a Director assisted by several Deputy Directors. Together
with the Deputy Secretary General they directly support the Secretary General in his day-to-day
work.

North Atlantic Council

The North Atlantic Council is the principal political decision-making body within NATO. It
oversees the political and military process relating to security issues affecting the whole
Alliance. It brings together representatives of each member country to discuss policy or
operational questions requiring collective decisions, providing a forum for wide-ranging
consultation between members on all issues affecting their peace and security.

Senior Civilian & Special Representatives

The Senior Civilian Representative carries forward the Alliance's political-military objectives. It
liaises with the country’s government, civil society, representatives of the international
community and neighboring countries. It provides the Council with advice on the most effective
means of ensuring the overall coherence of the Alliance’s relations, which includes
responsibilities related to upholding NATO’s public perception.

Members of the Military Committee

The Military Committee (MC) is the senior military authority in NATO and the oldest permanent
body in NATO after the North Atlantic Council, both having been formed only months after the
Alliance came into being. It is the primary source of military advice to the North Atlantic Council
and the Nuclear Planning Group, and gives direction to the two Strategic Commanders. The
Military Committee is responsible for translating political decision and guidance into military
direction, and for recommending measures considered necessary for the defense of the NATO
area and the implementation of decisions regarding military operations.
NATO Strategic Commands
The NATO Strategic Commands are responsible for the development of defense plans for their
respective areas, for the determination of force requirements and for the deployment and
exercise of the forces under their command control.

Consensus decision-making at NATO

All NATO decisions are made by consensus, after discussion and consultation among member
countries.

 A decision reached by consensus is an agreement reached by common consent.

 When a “NATO decision” is announced, it is therefore the expression of the collective
will of all the sovereign states that are members of the Alliance.
 This principle of consensus is applied at every committee level, which implies that all
NATO decisions are collective decisions made by its member countries.
Applying the principle of consensus decision-making

Consensus decision-making is a fundamental principle which has been accepted as the sole
basis for decision-making in NATO since the creation of the Alliance in 1949.

Consensus decision-making means that there is no voting at NATO. Consultations take place
until a decision that is acceptable to all is reached. Sometimes member countries agree to
disagree on an issue. In general, this negotiation process is rapid since members consult each
other on a regular basis and therefore often know and understand each other's positions in
advance.

Facilitating the process of consultation and consensus decision-making is one of the NATO
Secretary General's main tasks.

The principle of consensus decision-making applies throughout NATO.

Aims and Purposes of NATO

Purposes:

1) Nato's essential and primary purpose is to strengthen unify and safeguard the freedom and
security of its members by political and military means.
 2)Nato's second purpose is to protect the stability of the region.

NATO aims and strive a lasting peace in Europe based on common value of individual, liberty,
democracy, human right and the rule of law.

a) Political means: NATO promotes democratic values and enables members to cooperate on
defense-related issues.

b) Military means: NATO is committed to the peaceful resolution of dispute.

Operations of NATO: Past & Present

Highlights:

 NATO is a crisis management organization that has the capacity to undertake a wide range of
military operations and missions.

 Approximately 18,000 military personnel are engaged in NATO missions around the world,
managing often complex ground, air and naval operations in all types of environment.

 Currently, NATO is operating in Afghanistan, Kosovo and the Mediterranean.

 NATO is also supporting the African Union and conducting air policing missions on the request of
its Allies. Furthermore, NATO is assisting with the response to the refugee and migrant crisis in
Europe and has Patriot missiles and AWACS aircraft deployed in Turkey. It also carries out
disaster relief operations and missions to protect populations against natural, technological or
humanitarian disasters.

 The tempo and diversity of operations and missions in which NATO is involved have increased
since the early 1990s.

During the Cold War

When NATO was established in 1949, one of its fundamental roles was to act as a powerful
deterrent against military aggression. In this role, NATO’s success was reflected in the fact that,
throughout the entire period of the Cold War, NATO forces were not involved in a single military
engagement. For much of the latter half of the 20th century, NATO remained vigilant and prepared.

After the Cold War

With the end of the Cold War in the early 1990s came great changes to the international security
environment. The Alliance witnessed the emergence of new threats and the resurgence of old but
familiar ones.
 With these changing conditions came new responsibilities. From being an exclusively defensive
alliance for nearly half a century, NATO began to assume an increasingly proactive role within the
international community. Before engaging in its first major crisis-response operation in the Balkans,
NATO conducted several other military operations:

Operation Anchor Guard, 10 August 1990 – 9 March 1991

After Iraqi forces invaded Kuwait on 2 August 1990, NATO Airborne Early Warning aircraft deployed to
Konya, Turkey, to monitor the crisis and provide coverage of southeastern Turkey in case of an Iraqi
attack during the first Gulf Crisis/War.

Operation Ace Guard, 3 January 1991 – 8 March 1991

In response to a Turkish request for assistance to meet the threat posed by Iraq during the first Gulf
Crisis/War, NATO deployed the ACE Mobile Force (Air) and air defence packages to Turkey.

Operation Allied Goodwill I & II, 4-9 February & 27 February – 24 March 1992
Following the break-up of the Soviet Union in December 1991 and the collapse of its centrally-controlled
economic system, NATO assisted an international relief effort by flying teams of humanitarian assistance
experts and medical advisors to Russia and other Commonwealth of Independent States nations using
AWACS trainer cargo aircraft.

Operation Agile Genie, 1-19 May 1992

During a period of growing Western tension with Libya after the UN Security Council imposed sanctions
designed to induce Libya to surrender suspects in the bombing of a Pan Am airliner over the town of
Lockerbie in Scotland in 1988, NATO provided increased AWACS coverage of the Central Mediterranean
to monitor air approach routes from the North African littoral. NATO AWACS aircraft flew a total of 36
missions with a total of 2,336 flying hours.

NATO in Afghanistan

NATO is currently leading Resolute Support, a non-combat mission which provides training, advice
and assistance to Afghan security forces and institutions. Resolute Support was launched on 1 January
2015. It includes approximately 13,000 personnel from both NATO and partner countries and operates
with one hub (in Kabul/Bagram) and four spokes in Mazar-e Sharif (northern Afghanistan), Herat
(western Afghanistan), Kandahar (southern Afghanistan) and Laghman (eastern Afghanistan).

NATO in Kosovo

While Afghanistan remains NATO’s primary operational theatre, the Alliance has not faltered on its
other commitments, particularly in the Balkans. Today, approximately 4,500 Allied and partner troops
operate in Kosovo as part of NATO’s Kosovo Force (KFOR).

Having first entered Kosovo in June 1999 to end widespread violence and halt the humanitarian
disaster, KFOR troops continue to maintain a strong presence throughout the territory.
 Following Kosovo’s declaration of independence in February 2008, NATO agreed it would continue
to maintain its presence on the basis of UN Security Council Resolution 1244. It has since helped to
create a professional and multi-ethnic Kosovo Security Force, which is a lightly armed force responsible
for security tasks that are not appropriate for the police. Meanwhile, progress has been achieved in the
European Union-sponsored dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina. The normalisation of relations
between Serbia and Kosovo is key to solving the political deadlock over northern Kosovo.

Securing the Mediterranean Sea

NATO operations are not limited only to zones of conflict. In the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist
attacks, NATO immediately began to take measures to expand the options available to counter the
threat of international terrorism. In October 2001, it launched the maritime surveillance Operation
Active Endeavour, focused on detecting and deterring terrorist activity in the Mediterranean. The
operation was terminated in October 2016 and was succeeded by Sea Guardian, a flexible maritime
operation able to perform the full range of maritime security operations tasks.

Supporting the African Union

Well beyond the Euro-Atlantic region, the Alliance continues to support the African Union (AU) in its
peacekeeping missions on the African continent.

Since June 2007, NATO has assisted the AU Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) by providing airlift support
for AU peacekeepers. Following renewed AU requests, the North Atlantic Council has agreed to extend
its support on several occasions and continues to do so. NATO is also providing capacity-building
support, as well as expert training support to the African Standby Force (ASF), at the AU’s request. The
ASF is intended to be deployed in Africa in times of crisis and is part of the AU’s efforts to develop long-
term peacekeeping capabilities. ASF represents the AU’s vision for a continental, on-call security
apparatus with some similarities to the NATO Response Force.

Air policing

Since Russia’s illegal military intervention in Ukraine in 2014, NATO has been taking extra
reassurance measures for its Allies. Among these is the boosting of NATO’s air policing missions.

Air policing missions are collective peacetime missions that enable NATO to detect, track and
identify all violations and infringements of its airspace and to take appropriate action. Allied fighter jets
patrol the airspace of Allies who do not have fighter jets of their own. NATO has deployed additional
aircraft to reinforce missions over Albania and Slovenia, as well as the Baltic region where NATO F-16s
have intercepted Russian aircraft repeatedly violating Allied airspace.

This air policing capability is one of three NATO standing forces on active duty that contribute to the
Alliance’s collective defence efforts on a permanent basis. They also include NATO’s standing maritime
forces, which are ready to act when called upon, as well as an integrated air defence system to protect
against air attacks, which also comprises the Alliance’s ballistic missile defence system.