Introduction and Purpose

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is a political-military alliance of 30 member states in Europe and North America. The primary purpose of NATO is to ensure the freedom and security of the member states and the broader North Atlantic region by political and military means. NATO was formed in the aftermath of WWII and in response to the beginning of the Cold War. The original member states wanted the alliance to foster regional cooperation, increase trust, decrease the chance of further conflict, and deter the Soviet Union from invading Western Europe. In this manner, NATO has always been a peacetime military alliance to deter war.

In NATO’s more than 70 year history, the world and prominent challenges have changed, as have NATO’s primary concerns. During the Cold War, the Soviet Union was the main threat. But in the 21st century, NATO’s focuses include terrorism and cyber-attacks. In light of events across the world that affect the stability and safety of the North Atlantic region, NATO has been working with organizations and countries globally to promote safety and stability. 

Within NATO, there is an ongoing debate on the most significant current threat: Russia or China. This debate considers factors including geographic proximity, economic power, military exercises, cyber attacks, cooperation between Russia and China, and recent violations of human rights or democratic principles.

History of NATO

Facing growing Soviet power and new communist governments in Eastern Europe following World War II, Western European countries were concerned about their own safety, and became interested in collective security as a means of halting the expansion of communism. In 1949, twelve nations signed the Washington Treaty, which established NATO and laid out the principle of collective defense. In 1955, West Germany joined NATO, which prompted the Soviet Union to create the Warsaw Pact with Eastern European nations to oppose NATO. Following the creation of the Warsaw Pact, NATO implemented the principle of “massive retaliation”, where if any member state was attacked, the US would respond with a large nuclear attack. In 1991, the collapse of the Soviet Union led to the end of the Cold War, and a gradual warming of relations between NATO and Russia. This period ended in 2014 when Russia invaded Ukraine. Since the end of the Cold War, NATO has expanded membership into Eastern Europe, with new members in 1999, 2004, 2009, and more recently in 2017 and 2020.

Structure of NATO

NATO’s decisions are made by a consensus of all member states; through deliberation all members agree on a course of action or announcement. Each state sends a delegation to NATO, including an ambassador, who represents that state’s interests. 

The primary political decision making body is the North Atlantic Council. Military decisions are made by the Military Committee and other relevant groups. The Secretary General is NATO’s highest international civil servant; its roles include chairing the North Atlantic Council and other key groups, being NATO’s primary spokesperson, and leading NATO’s international staff. Jens Stoltenberg is the current Secretary General. 

NATO Missions 

Article 5 of the Washington Treaty contains the principle of collective defense—considered the cornerstone of NATO. According to Article 5, an “armed attack against one or more [member states] in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all” and the other member states will also respond to the attack and assist the ally that was attacked. Article 5 has only been invoked once, following the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the United States. In response, NATO planes flew patrol flights over the US, and NATO troops were later deployed in Afghanistan fighting terrorism.

NATO has engaged in other operations across the world under a UN mandate rather than Article 5. In the 1990s, NATO missions tried to prevent further ethnic conflict and bloodshed in Bosnia and Kosovo. Additionally, NATO troops fought terrorism in Afghanistan from 2003 to 2015, led anti-piracy operations off the Horn of Africa in 2008, and participated in non-combat support operations.

Current NATO Debates

There are several current issues that are related to NATO: the future of the organization, who should be funding it, levels of military spending, and NATO enlargement.

The first issue is whether NATO has a future, and if so, what that future looks like. One perspective is that NATO was originally created to oppose the communist USSR, which has since dissolved. Russia spends about 60 billion dollars on its military, while European NATO members spend 260 billion dollars, so Russia is unlikely to take formal military action. America’s current international challenges are primarily in the Middle East and Asia, which are outside of NATO’s scope, and thus some argue there is little future for NATO. The other perspective is that NATO is a political-military alliance, and while the military threats may be receding, political cooperation is still necessary on a range of issues, including terrorism, cybersecurity, and the response to authoritarian states like Russia and China. The US needs allies in these matters, and NATO can evolve to address them.

The next issue is military spending and who should be funding NATO. All member nations are officially supposed to spend 2% of their GDP on defense so that each country contributes to the collective. However, many countries were not meeting that goal, increasing the burden of collective defense on the US. Some feel that NATO members are not paying their share, essentially free-riding off the US. Since the 2014 Russian invasion of Ukraine, many member nations have recommitted themselves to defense spending, and NATO saw an increase of $130 billion in defense spending among member states since 2014. However, the crux of the debate over spending is whether a flat 2% is a fair distribution of burden. NATO member states like Spain and Greece approached bankruptcy in the 2010s even as their GDPs remained relatively steady. Because of this, some feel that other macroeconomic factors should be taken into account when establishing a burden sharing plan.
The final issue is NATO enlargement. Article 10 of the Washington Treaty opens membership 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.” One perspective argues that further expansion could weaken the alliance’s commitment to liberal, democratic values and present further funding challenges along with antagonizing Russia. Another perspective argues that the inclusion of new states committed to the ideals of NATO, as demonstrated by following the membership criteria, strengthens the alliance, further stabilizes the region, and makes the alliance better prepared to face upcoming challenges.