Saturday, December 25, 2010

North Atlantic Treaty Organization


The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO; pronounced /ˈneɪtoʊ/, NAY-toe);
French: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique Nord (OTAN)), also called "the (North) Atlantic Alliance", is an intergovernmental military alliance based on the North Atlantic Treaty which was signed on April 4, 1949.

The NATO headquarters are in Brussels, Belgium, and the organization constitutes a system of collective defense whereby its member states agree to mutual defense in response to an attack by any external party.


North Atlantic Treaty Organization
Organisation du Traité de l'Atlantique Nord

Flag of NATO

NATO countries shown in blue.
Formation April 4, 1949
Type Military alliance
Headquarters Brussels, Belgium
Membership
Official languages English
French
Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen
Chairman of the NATO Military Committee Giampaolo Di Paola
Website nato.int


French withdrawal

Map of the NATO air bases in France before Charles de Gaulle's 1966 withdrawal from NATO military integrated command.
The unity of NATO was breached early in its history, with a crisis occurring during Charles de Gaulle's presidency of France from 1958 onwards. De Gaulle protested at the United States' strong role in the organization and what he perceived as a Special Relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom.


In a memorandum sent to President Dwight D. Eisenhower and Prime Minister Harold Macmillan on September 17, 1958, he argued for the creation of a tripartite directorate that would put France on an equal footing with the United States and the United Kingdom, and also for the expansion of NATO's coverage to include geographical areas of interest to France, most notably Algeria, where France was waging a counter-insurgency and sought NATO assistance.


Membership

Current members Membership Action Plan Promised invitation Intensified Dialogue Membership not a goal Undeclared intent
NATO has added new members seven times since first forming in 1949 (the last 2 in 2009).

NATO comprises 28 members: Albania, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

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