Introduction
Currently, there are many international organizations in the world that address issues in all areas of the human life, including economic and political ones. The acutest problems of today, in my book, are the problem of war and peace, of disarmament and resolution of armed conflicts. Safety concern of every state has led to the creation of the military and political organizations. One of which was the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). NATO creation was a consequence of the Cold War and, therefore, all its efforts were aimed at confrontation with the Soviet Union and with other socialist countries (which later merged into the Warsaw Pact). NATO was created on April 4, 1949. NATO countries decided to unite their efforts for collective defense, the preservation of peace and security. The main purpose of NATO was and is up to date – is to ensure the freedom and security of all members by political and military means in accordance with the principles of the UN. NATO is designed to ensure lasting peace in Europe and to preserve the strategic balance in Europe.
NATO states-members undertake to settle all international disputes by peaceful means in order not to jeopardize international security. According to the main principle of NATO, an armed attack against one of the NATO members shall be considered as an attack against all countries of the North Atlantic Treaty. As for me, this is the main provision of the charter of NATO and characterizes the basic principle of existence of this organization through the principle of collective security.
As any international organization, NATO has its own structure. The governing bodies of the Organization are the North Atlantic Council, the Defence Planning Committee, the Nuclear Planning Group, the Secretary General and other committees. The military structure of NATO is composed of the military committees, of the Permanent Military Committee and of the International Military Staff. NATO`s headquarters is in Brussels. Currently, NATO consists of 28 countries: the USA, the UK, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Portugal, Canada, Italy, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Greece, Turkey, Spain, Germany, Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic, Malta, Latvia, Lithuania Estonia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Romania and Bulgaria, Albania and Croatia.
It should be noted, Iceland has no armed forces of its own and, therefore, is not a part of NATO's military structure, it has only observer status in the Defence Planning Committee. France, being one of 12 founding NATO members, also withdrew NATO's military structure in 1966 due to political views of Charles de Gaulle, which differed from the general concept of NATO prescribing every member to the full extent participate in the common military life of the Organization. Though France abandoned the military structures of the Alliance, it has been continuing to participate in the work of NATO`s political structures. In March 2009, the National Assembly of France supported the idea of President Nicolas Sarkozy to return to NATO's military structures (“France ends four-decade Nato rift”).
NATO is currently playing a very important role. This organization has been actively involved in international conflicts. Often NATO replaces the UN and its decisions, which, however, sometimes contradicts the UN Charter (example – NATO bombing of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia during the Kosovo War in 1999 which was conducted without the permission of the UN Security Council). Historically, leading role in the NATO decision-making plays the United States.
Formation
A series of events in 1947-49 exacerbated the international situation. These events include threats to the sovereignty of Norway, Greece, Turkey, the revolution in Czechoslovakia in 1948 and Berlin Blockade. By signing in March 1948 the Treaty of Brussels, five Western European countries – Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and France – created a common defense system.
Then talks of the U.S. and Canada over creating a unified Alliance followed. These negotiations resulted in the signing in April 1949 of the Washington Treaty, enacting the common defense system of twelve countries: Belgium, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, the United States and France. In the early fifties, international developments prompted the Allies to establish on the basis of the North Atlantic Treaty an organization that is known today as NATO. Creation of NATO was formalized with a number of additional agreements that entered into force in 1952.
Purposes of NATO
The main objective of NATO – is to ensure the freedom and security of all its members in Europe and North America in accordance with the principles of the UN Charter. To achieve this, NATO uses its political influence and military capabilities in accordance with the nature of the security challenges faced by its Member States.
The current Strategic Concept was adopted in 2010 and replaced the previous Strategic Concept of 1999. It remains on the same approaches towards the security of the Alliance member-states since the establishment of NATO:
- To act as a basis of stability in the Euro-Atlantic region;
- To serve as a forum for consultation on security issues;
- To carry out control and protection against any threat of aggression against any NATO member state;
- To contribute to effective conflict prevention and to engage actively in crisis management;
- To promote the development of a comprehensive partnership, cooperation and dialogue with other countries in the Euro-Atlantic region.
As we see from above, NATO continues performing on the long existing principles: collective defence, crisis management and cooperative security. However, compared with the previous Concepts, the latest of 2010 introduces new principles of NATO operation. It urges all NATO members to foster build up of “capabilities necessary to defend against ballistic missile attacks and cyber attacks” (“NATO adopts new Strategic Concept”). Moreover, for the first time since NATO inception the Concept “commits NATO to reinforce cooperation with Russia” (“NATO adopts new Strategic Concept”).
Functioning
Participants of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization undertake to settle all international disputes by peaceful means, in order not to jeopardize international peace, security and justice. They refrain in their international relations from the threat of force or use of force, in any manner inconsistent with the purposes and principles of the UN.
NATO – is an intergovernmental organization which has no supranational functions. It can perform only what is not objected by any member of it. As an intergovernmental formation, it has at its disposal a certain number of military and civilian personnel.
Major NATO decisions are prepared and taken within the committees that consist of members of national delegations. This is the core of the Alliance as an international “club of interests”. The committee`s work is supported with the help of international civilian personnel (international officials) that are subordinate to the Secretary General, and with the help of the integrated command personnel, which is controlled by the NATO Military Committee.
An interesting fact is that the share of military forces of every member state, which in case of war shall be transmitted under the common command, is significantly less than the number of forces that remain under national control. In the peacetime, the number of military forces subordinate to the Central Command is much less – only a few thousands of troops. The same can be said about the budgets paid by every state-member – they are miniscule compared to the total amount of annual military spending of member countries.
The basic structural elements of NATO
North Atlantic Council (NAC) has real political power and decision-making rights. It consists of permanent representatives of all Member States, who meet at least once a week. Summits with participation of the Heads of State and Government are held with the need to address critical issues or at the time of turning points in the development of NATO.
Defence Planning Committee (DPC) usually comprises only permanent representatives, but at least twice a year its meetings are held at the level of Defence Ministers. It addresses the majority of military issues and challenges related to the planning of collective defense. All member states of NATO are represented in this committee.
NATO member states defence ministers who participate in the work of the Defence Planning Committee held regular meetings within the framework of the Nuclear Planning Group (NPG), where they discuss specific policy issues associated with nuclear forces. These meetings cover a wide range of policy issues in the field of nuclear weapons, including the safety, security and survivability of nuclear weapons, communications and information systems, deployment of nuclear forces, as well as broader issues of common concern, such as nuclear arms control and nuclear proliferation.
NATO Permanent Representatives and national delegations. Every state-member is represented in NATO with an Ambassador or with a Permanent Representative, which is assisted in his work by the national delegation consisting of councillors and officials representing their country in different NATO committees.
NATO Secretary General is a senior international statesman, who is entrusted by the governments of NATO member states to be the chairman of the North Atlantic Council, of the Defence Planning Committee and of the Nuclear Planning Group, as well as to be the nominal chairman of other main NATO committees. He is also considered to be the Chief Executive Officer of NATO.
The International Secretariat. The performance of the North Atlantic Council and of its subordinate committees is carried out by means of the International Secretariat. It is composed of members from different Member States that are employed directly by NATO or delegated by the respective Governments.
The Military Committee is responsible for planning collective military operations and holds regular meetings at the level of Chiefs of Defence (CHODs). Aforementioned Iceland has no armed forces and is represented at such meetings by a civilian official.
Current status of NATO
NATO was created in 1949 to ensure that the United States could “come to Europe's defense if the Soviet Union ever advanced across the continent and a way to persuade fragile European governments to resist the spread of communist ideology at home” (Daalder and Goldgeier, “Global NATO”).
Today both these reasons that forced the United States to the creation of NATO are absent. However, NATO continues its performance self adapting to the changing situation in the world after the Cold War. To this end, the new strategic concept of NATO, as it was mentioned above, provides for the use of force on a global scale to counteract the expanded list of new threats. Today this list includes cyber attacks, terrorism, drug trafficking, piracy, disruption of energy supplies, the rocket attacks, the proliferation of WMD. Undoubtedly, all of these threats are global, not only for NATO, but also for the entire world community.
However, it can be stated that NATO as a military-political alliance seeking to become a “global driving force” was not able to counter new threats and, primarily, – international terrorism, which undermines the stability and security of the international community. The vivid example if Afghanistan, where the war is over, but terrorism is still flourishing.
Moreover, it seems that Europe is no longer interested in securing its borders by its own means. In the NATO Secretary General`s Annual Report 2012 it is given that the U.S. share of total military expenditures of countries-members of NATO in 2012 was 72%. In 2007, for comparison purposes, it was smaller and was 68% (10). This means that the main military allies on the European continent – France, Germany, Italy and the UK – reduce their national military spending, shifting major responsibility to the Americans.
It is explained in the same report as following. When NATO was created European nations sought to invest any money just to prevent the spread of communism within their border lines, however, under the present circumstances it is not necessary. Nothing and no one threaten Europe, so European countries reduce their financial burden in the alliance, and the U.S. is forced to compensate for it. In this regard, in the aforementioned report of NATO such disinvestment is considered politically: “This has the potential to undermine Alliance solidarity and puts at risk the ability of the European Allies to act without the involvement of the United States” (11). It was especially clearly manifested during the Libyan conflict, which took place on the opposite shore of the Mediterranean Sea Europe and at the utmost involved efforts of the Americans.
Works Cited
Daalder, Ivo and James Goldgeier. Global NATO. Foreign Affairs. Oct. 2006. Web. 06 Feb. 2014. http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/61922/ivo-daalder-and-james-goldgeier/global-nato.
Duignan, Peter. NATO: Its Past, Present, and Future. Stanford: Hoover Institution Press, 2000. Print.
“France ends four-decade Nato rift” BBC News. 12 Mar. 2009. Web. 05 Feb. 2014. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7937666.stm
“NATO adopts new Strategic Concept”. North Atlantic Treaty Organization. 19 Nov. 2010. Web. 05 Feb. 2014. http://www.nato.int/cps/en/natolive/news_68172.htm.
“NATO Secretary General`s Annual Report 2012”. NATO Public Diplomatic Division. 2013. Web. 06 Feb. 2014. PDF file. http://www.nato.int/nato_static/assets/pdf/stock_publications/20130131_Annual_Report_2012_en.pdf.
“Strategic Concepts”. North Atlantic Treaty Organization. n.d. Web. 05 Feb. 2014. http://www.nato.int/cps/en/natolive/topics_56626.htm
