The Alliance’s Collective Defense
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was founded in 1949 and has gradually evolved into a group of 30 countries from Europe and North America that has been made to protect countries and their territories in case of a crisis.
The Alliance has been founded on the principle of collective defense, which means that if only one NATO ally is under attack, then all the other NATO allies are attacked. When terrorists attacked the United States during the 9/11 disaster, all NATO allies stood with America. In 2014, NATO has started to process of increasing its collective defense, the biggest so far since the Cold War.
Managing crises around the world
NATO promotes stability in our neighborhood and protects the people at home, and this sometimes might mean taking further action. For example, in the 90s, NATO ended further bloodshed that was happening in Bosnia and Kosovo.
Ever since then, NATO helped ensure that Afghanistan will no longer be a safe haven for international terrorist groups. NATO also helped prevent piracy off the Horn of Africa. Since 2016, it has helped address the refugee and migrant crises in Europe.
Fighting Terrorism
NATO played a crucial role in fighting terrorism, as it contributed with more than 13,000 NATO troops to train local forces in Afghanistan. NATO has also become a full member of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, and the AWACS surveillance aircraft keeps on supporting the Coalition.
NATO also trained Iraqi forces to learn new ways of fighting ISIS, and the Intelligence Division enhanced the anticipation skills and the way they responded to threats. In Naples, NATO has set up a “Hub for the South”, which helps the Allies keep track of a possible threat of terrorism.
Working with our partners
Because there are no borders when it comes to threats of terrorism, piracy, and cyber warfare, NATO is 100% committed to cooperating with its global partners.
That’s one of the reasons why it works with over 40 partner countries all over the world, but also with organizations such as the United Nations, the European Union, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), but also with the African Union. This way, stability, and security are spread.
Troops and Equipment
When NATO is on a mission, individual Allies have to commit to sending troops and equipment that must be placed under a unified NATO command. These are all known as “NATO forces”. The only military equipment that NATO has is a fleet of AWACS, short for Airborne Warning and Control surveillance aircraft. NATO also develops a capability for Global Hawk surveillance drones.
