The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, /ˈneɪtoʊ/; French: Organisation du traité de

l'Atlantique nord, OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is

an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 North American and European countries. The
organization implements the North Atlantic Treaty that was signed on 4 April 1949.[3][4] NATO
constitutes a system of collective defence whereby its independent member states agree to
mutual defence in response to an attack by any external party. NATO's Headquarters are located
in Evere, Brussels, Belgium, while the headquarters of Allied Command Operations is
near Mons, Belgium.
Since its founding, the admission of new member states has increased the alliance from the
original 12 countries to 30. The most recent member state to be added to NATO was North
Macedonia on 27 March 2020. NATO currently recognizes Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia,
and Ukraine as aspiring members.[5] An additional 20 countries participate in NATO's Partnership
for Peace program, with 15 other countries involved in institutionalized dialogue programs. The
combined military spending of all NATO members constitutes over 70% of the global total.
[6]
 Members agreed that their aim is to reach or maintain the target defence spending of at least
2% of GDP by 2024.[7][8]

Contents

 1History
 2Military operations
o 2.1Early operations
o 2.2Bosnia and Herzegovina intervention
o 2.3Kosovo intervention
o 2.4War in Afghanistan
o 2.5Iraq training mission
o 2.6Gulf of Aden anti-piracy
o 2.7Libya intervention
 3Participating countries
o 3.1Members
o 3.2Enlargement
o 3.3Partnerships
 4Structure
 5See also
o 5.1Similar organizations
 6References
 7Bibliography
 8Further reading
 9External links

History
Main article: History of NATO
On 4 March 1947, the Treaty of Dunkirk was signed by France and the United Kingdom as
a Treaty of Alliance and Mutual Assistance in the event of a possible attack by Germany or the
Soviet Union in the aftermath of World War II. In 1948, this alliance was expanded to include
the Benelux countries, in the form of the Western Union, also referred to as the Brussels Treaty
Organization (BTO), established by the Treaty of Brussels.[9] Talks for a new military alliance
which could also include North America resulted in the signature of the North Atlantic Treaty on 4
April 1949 by the member states of the Western Union plus the United States, Canada, Portugal,
Italy, Norway, Denmark and Iceland.[10]
West Germany joined NATO in 1955, which led to the formation of the rival Warsaw Pact during the Cold
War.

The North Atlantic Treaty was largely dormant until the Korean War initiated the establishment of
NATO to implement it, by means of an integrated military structure: This included the formation
of Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) in 1951, which adopted the Western
Union's military structures and plans.[11] In 1952, the post of Secretary General of NATO was
established as the organization's chief civilian. That year also saw the first major NATO maritime
exercises, Exercise Mainbrace and the accession of Greece and Turkey to the organization.[12]
[13]
 Following the London and Paris Conferences, West Germany was permitted to rearm militarily,
as they joined NATO in May 1955, which was, in turn, a major factor in the creation of the Soviet-
dominated Warsaw Pact, delineating the two opposing sides of the Cold War.
Doubts over the strength of the relationship between the European states and the United States
ebbed and flowed, along with doubts over the credibility of the NATO defence against a
prospective Soviet invasion – doubts that led to the development of the independent French
nuclear deterrent and the withdrawal of France from NATO's military structure in 1966.[14][15] In
1982, the newly democratic Spain joined the alliance.