NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization), was established on 4 April 1949 under the North Atlantic Treaty, signed in Washington by 10 Western European countries and two from North America (Belgium, Denmark, France, the Netherlands, Iceland, Canada, Luxembourg, Norway, Portugal, USA, United Kingdom and Italy). The essence of NATO is collective defence, which provides mutual assistance, including military aid, in case of an attack on a party or parties to the Treaty. The legal basis for the creation of NATO is Art. 51 of the UN Charter, which affirms the right of states to both individual and collective self-defence.
The genesis of NATO are the threats to the continent following World War II. Europe needed a guarantor of security in the face of chaos, distrust and the Soviet threat. NATO was created to counter both Soviet expansion and the possibility of a resurgence of militant nationalism. Manifestations of the Soviet threat included the Communist coup in Czechoslovakia in 1948 and the blockade of West Berlin in response to the unification of to West Germany. Lord Ismay, the first NATO Secretary General, said that the Alliance was created "to keep the Russians out, the Americans in and the Germans down".
Together with security guarantees and material aid from the USA, Western Europe has achieved stability and economic development. In 1952, NATO expanded to include Greece and Turkey, and three years later the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG). The addition of the Federal Republic of Germany meant the rearmament of Germany which the Soviet Union and its satellite countries responded to by concluding the Warsaw Pact.
The 1950s also demonstrated the need to strengthen political and scientific cooperation within NATO: the Suez crisis caused internal divisions in the Alliance, and the Soviet Union put the Sputnik satellite into orbit, surpassing the West in the space race. The Alliance therefore decided to enhance political consultations and to create a NATO Science Programme to meet these challenges.
In 1957, NATO adopted the doctrine of massive retaliation as a strategy of deterrence. It assumed a nuclear strike on the Warsaw Pact in the event of a military attack, as well as pre-emptive nuclear attack in the event of a threat to NATO countries. The nuclear potential of the United States thus became the basis for the security of NATO member states.
In the 1960s NATO adopted a new strategy of flexible response, as the USSR had developed intercontinental missiles countering the effectiveness of the previous strategy. Flexible response implied the conducting of conventional warfare and the use of nuclear potential as a last resort.
In 1967 the "Harmel Report" was published, which declared that an element of balance was improving relations with the Eastern bloc, and NATO was assigned two equivalent missions: defence of the Member States and relaxation of tensions (detente) with communist countries. The report therefore emphasized deterrence and defence on the one hand, while stressing dialogue with the Eastern bloc on the other.
Detente in international relations took place in the 1970s. In the first half of the decade the USA and the USSR reduced their arms stockpiles and missile defence systems; the Helsinki Accord was also signed, in which countries of the East and West reiterated their commitment to non-interference in internal affairs, peaceful settlement of international disputes and respect for human rights. According to the USSR, it sanctioned the status quo in international relations, while the West assumed it would lead to the liberalization of communist regimes.
Soviet intervention in Afghanistan brought an end to detente. The Soviets also threatened Europe, arranging missile systems along its western border allowing them to carry out a limited nuclear war in Europe. In response to this threat, NATO deployed American missile systems throughout Europe with the capacity to carry nuclear weapons.
The coming to power of Mikhail Gorbachev in the mid-1980s led to an improvement in relations between NATO and the Warsaw Pact; the sides reached an agreement on the weapons systems described above and they eliminated their arsenals (INF Treaty).
NATO lost its main rival after the collapse of the Eastern bloc and the USSR. The alliance, however, was maintained in order to prevent military nationalism and to form the basis of pan-European security. NATO therefore decided to cooperate with its once-opponents and formed the Partnership for Peace to bring the countries of Central and Eastern Europe closer to the Alliance. The next significant step in the history of NATO was enlargement to include Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary on March 12, 1999. Successive expansions occurred in 2004 and 2009.
The strategy implemented in 1991 also changed the formula of NATO operations. It stressed capacities in crisis response and peacekeeping operations, and forces of this kind twice led to end of conflict and ethnic cleansing in the former Yugoslavia (1995 and 1999). They also contributed to stabilizing other conflicts in the Balkans and in the Middle East.
NATO has thus changed from alliance whose very existence is a deterrent to enemies into one with a strategy of using its capacities for the purpose of enforcing and preserving peace, preventing international crimes, as well as humanitarian aid and training missions. However, nuclear and conventional deterrence remain the foundation of defence strategy.
Since the terrorist attacks in 2001 (USA), 2004 (Spain) and 2005 (United Kingdom), NATO has focused on the prevention of terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, engaging in operations in such places as Afghanistan.
NATO shapes relations with partner countries through dialogue in such international bodies as the NATO-Ukraine Commission, the NATO-Georgia Commission, the Mediterranean Dialogue and the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative.
Relations with Russia have also undergone change. At the turn of the century, the Alliance and Russia normalized relations, ceased to regard each other as enemies, and cooperated in such spheres as the fight against terrorism, non-proliferation and crisis management. However, relations were severed due to Russia's military action against Georgia in 2008. In subsequent years, the West sought to renew ties and the US announced a policy of "resetting relations with Russia," which brought the signing of an agreement on reduction of nuclear weapons (New START Treaty) and joint anti-terrorist exercises.
The Russian annexation of the Crimea and the launch of a hybrid war in Ukraine in 2014 worsened relations. The Alliance held that Russia's actions undermined the foundations of international security and the principles on which peace in Europe was based. The West has imposed sanctions against Russia, and NATO has strengthened its forces on the eastern flank.
NATO stresses that military measures do not guarantee safety, and that meeting today's challenges requires the cooperation of the international community, which should work to prevent conflicts; when they do occur, the international community should strive after their completion to rebuild economic infrastructure and secure stabilization. Experiences from the Middle East and the Balkans show that averting crises requires political, military and civilian measures be taken simultaneously, along with the cooperation of other international actors such as the UN, OSCE, and the EU.
No comments: