28/09/2001
NATO

The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, better known by its acronym, NATO was formed in Washington on 4 April 1949, when 12 nations signed the North Atlantic Treaty that committed them to collective security and to each other's defence.

The cornerstone of the Treaty was, and remains, an explicit agreement that an act of aggression against any one of these countries be considered an act of aggression against all members of the alliance, who would then deliver a united response. Between 1952 and 1982, four more European nations acceded to the Treaty, and in 1999, three further nations - the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland - were welcomed into the Organisation. Today NATO represents the largest military alliance in the world, its members being Belgium, Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States.

The fundamental role of NATO is to safeguard the freedom and security of its member countries. Its first task therefore is to deter and defend against any actual or threatened aggression, by use of political and military means. However, with the end of the Cold War and with other global factors threatening to undermine peace and stability, the remit of NATO has expanded to include crisis management, conflict prevention and peacekeeping. All of these tasks can be undertaken when there is consensus among the member countries to do so. In recent years, these operations have increasingly been undertaken in co-operation with partner countries, which are not members of the Alliance, and with other international organisations. One of NATO's greatest challenges in the last decade has been its peacekeeping role in the former Yugoslavia.

This co-operation has also been pursued in relation to civil emergency planning. NATO allies and partner countries have developed structures to enable them to share resources and expertise in times of natural disasters and other crises. An example is the Euro-Atlantic Disaster Response Unit, which was founded in Brussels following a proposal by Russia. This unit was instrumental in co-ordinating relief to Ukraine following the serious flooding in 1998; in providing assistance to humanitarian agencies in the Balkans in 1998 and 1999; and in co-ordinating requests for assistance after the major earthquake that struck Turkey in August 1999.

The different aspects of the work of NATO are governed by the North Atlantic Council, on which each member nation is normally represented by an Ambassador or Permanent Representative. The Council can also meet however at the level of heads of state or government, or from time to time, at the level of Foreign and Defence Ministers. The work of the Council is supported by various committees composed of delegations from each member country. This international staff works under the leadership of a Secretary-General who is elected by member nations. The current holder of this post is Lord Robertson, the former British Defence Secretary.

More information about NATO can be found at its website at www.NATO.org