NATO

One of the organizations considered important and fundamental in the international field is the North Atlantic Treaty Organization , better known by the acronym NATO . A type of alliance that was established between several allied countries with the main objective of being able to defend its members in the event of any type of military invasion.

NATO Features

The most notable characteristics of NATO are the following:

• Its acronym means North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
• It is also known as the North Atlantic Alliance or Atlantic Alliance.
• It consists of an intergovernmental alliance based on the military field.
• It is based on the terms established in the Washington Treaty .
• It is a type of collective defense commitment .
• It is made up of a total of 29 countries.
• It is a mediating organization between countries.
• They contribute to the management of different conflicts and thus manage to avoid international crises.
• They promote a culture of dialogue and cooperation between different countries.
• It guarantees military protection to its members against any type of threat.
• His first actions took place in the military field after the Soviet Union dissolved.
• He has participated in various military interventions such as that of Bosnia, the former Yugoslavia, Afghanistan and Libya.

NATO history

The history of NATO begins in 1949 when the Washington Treaty was signed between its founding countries , which decided to join forces and commit themselves to be able to defend each other in the event of armed aggression against any of them. It was in this way they succeeded in uniting the defense of America of the North with several countries in Europe Western.

As time passed, more countries joined the organization and it continued to make various changes within its strategic field . In 1991 , the Rome Strategic Concept was created , designing a better approach to safety. In 1997 , it again underwent several changes in its structure and policies . During the Madrid Summit , NATO’s commitment was established through an open-door policy and in 2002 , the Prague Summit was held where the alliance was further expanded to new countries.

What is your function

The main function or objective of NATO is to be able to provide guarantee in terms of freedom and security to the member countries through a series of military and political means . When there is an armed attack against one of its allies, then it will be considered as an attack directed at all the others. It is then basically a collective defense function .

Structure

NATO’s structure is quite broad and includes several very important aspects.

Political structure

The organization’s political structure is made up of thirty member states and the decisions made are based on the North Atlantic Treaty . The allied countries send a delegation to headquarters and elect a permanent representative with experience, who hold weekly meetings and also have a certain degree of decision.

An important part of NATO is its secretary , who is also the president of the North Atlantic Council , and is the main representative of the entire political leadership of the institution. It also has a Parliamentary Assembly which is in charge of establishing strategic objectives .

Finally, it has a total of five different committees: on the Civil Dimension of Security , a Political Commission , a Science and Technology committee , one on Security and Defense and finally one on Economy and Security .

Military structure

It is regulated and directed by the Military Committee, which has the function of guiding in military matters. Its president is the highest ranking military officer and is also the most important military adviser to the secretary general . This structure has the function of being able to provide advice on military matters and to provide guidelines to strategic commanders . It is also made up of the Allied Transformation Command which has as its main objective the power to preserve peace, the integrity of the territories and security.

NATO member countries

Countries

After NATO was founded, the Federal Republic of Germany, Greece and Turkey also joined in 1952. In 1982 Spain , Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic also joined in 1999 and were the first former countries. Communists who joined the organization.

Later, during the Prague Summit held in 2007, Romania, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Estonia, Slovakia, Lithuania and finally Latvia also joined . In March 2004 and finally in 2009, Croatia and Albania joined .

Founders

NATO was founded in the beginning by a total of twelve countries: Holland, Iceland, Denmark, Canada, the United States , Belgium, France , Italy, Norway, Luxembourg, the United Kingdom and Portugal, these countries first signed the Treaty of Washington.

Campus

NATO had several headquarters throughout its history. It is currently located in Brussels , in a place fully integrated into urban planning and has all the necessary transport services for good accessibility to the city.

Importance

NATO is of utmost importance for the whole world because it is a type of international organization that manages to make a series of important political decisions in order to create bonds of trust and at the same time cooperation between the actors, establishing diplomatic communication channels. It also has an importance in terms of military utility since it is in charge of generating strategic and tactical military doctrines .

It is for this reason that it continues to be one of the best military tools and an instrument that can act as a collective defense against new or old threats, also guaranteeing the territorial integrity of its member countries. It is then an organization that provides defense , intervening in all those threats that may put European security at risk, even in countries that are far from it.

critics

The main criticisms that have been made by experts against NATO are based on its different military actions and measures, especially during the operations carried out in Libya . She was accused by UNESCO of having violated all the resolutions issued by the United Nations and the Geneva Conventions , which condemn violence against the media and journalists .

The Foreign Minister of Russia , also made strong criticism because of the way that NATO had faced the war in Mali , Syria and especially for his performances against the nuclear program of Iran , it said that its resolutions do not really They were helping nothing and he accused them of focusing their interests on Europe and the United States .