GP- Global Governance: Political & Economic- North Atlantic Treaty Organisation Flashcards
What is the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)?
A security alliance of 30 member states.
It aims to protect the security of its members according to the principle of collective security whereby an attack on one of its members will provoke a response by the whole of NATO.
When was NATO signed and why?
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was signed in 1949 between 12 states as a defensive alliance against the threat from the Soviet Union, which was then expanding its influence through Eastern Europe as the Cold War intensified.
What is the crucial part of the NATO treaty?
The crucial part of the treaty was Article 5, in which the member states agreed that an attack on one member state would be seen as an attack on all.
This is known as the ‘principle of collective security’.
It has provided NATO members with the reassurance that no power would choose to attack them for fear of unleashing a collective NATO response.
What role did NATO play during the Cold War?
During the Cold War, NATO acted as a deterrent to the Soviet Union’s military alliance, the Warsaw Pact.
What has NATO done since the end of the Cold War?
However, when the Cold War ended, NATO continued on.
It even expanded its membership to include several states that had been members of the Warsaw Pact, including Poland, Hungary and Romania, as well as the Baltic states (Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania), which had been part of the Soviet Union.
In the 1990s, no longer facing a threat from the Soviet Union, NATO also became increasingly proactive in its defence of Western interests by engaging in operations in Europe and beyond
What operations has NATO been involved in?
During the Bosnian civil war, NATO took military action against the Bosnian Serbs following atrocities such as the Srebrenica massacre (1995). NATO forces then played a leading role in rebuilding Bosnia in a peacekeeping capacity.
In 1999, NATO bombed Serbia to stop its policy of ethnic cleansing within Kosovo. Following Serbia’s defeat, a NATO peacekeeping force, KFOR, was despatched to Kosovo, where it continues to support the development of a stable, democratic, multi-ethnic and peaceful Kosovo.
In 2001, the terrorist attacks on the USA triggered Article 5, and between 2001 and 2021 NATO forces were deployed in Afghanistan in an attempt to defeat the Taliban insurgency and nation build. However, when the Taliban regained power in 2021, NATO abandoned Afghanistan.
Between 2009 and 2016, the NATO-led operation Ocean Shield worked on combating piracy in the Indian Ocean.
Who are the NATO member states?
Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, UK, USA (1949)
* Greece, Turkey (1952)
* Germany (West) (1955)
* Spain (1982)
* Germany (unified) (1990)
* Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland (1999)
* Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia (2004)
* Albania, Croatia (2009)
* Montenegro (2017)
* North Macedonia (2020)
* Finland, Sweden (anticipated 2023)
What are some criticisms of NATO?
- Critics of NATO argue that when the Cold War ended, the organisation arrogantly ignored Soviet security concerns by expanding its membership to Russia’s borders.
- In 1997, veteran US diplomat George Kennan, who in 1945 had warned against Soviet expansionism in the Long Telegram, claimed that NATO expansion eastwards would ‘inflame the nationalistic, anti-Western and militaristic tendencies in Russian opinion’.
- NATO’s military operations against the Bosnian Serbs (1995) and against Serbia (1999) further increased Russian hostility. Russia and Serbia have been close allies for centuries, so the Russian government resented what it saw as a Western imperialist agenda in the Balkans.
- Such provocations, it has been claimed, turned Russia from a potential ally into an enemy. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 could therefore be seen as a rational way of Russia preventing Ukraine from applying to join NATO, which would have further challenged Russian security interests.
- As well as antagonising Russia, critics claim that NATO’s out-of-area operations in Afghanistan were much too ambitious to be successful and so should never have been attempted.
- In 2011, NATO went beyond UNSC Resolution 1973 to protect civilians by overthrowing the Gaddafi regime in Libya. It then failed to provide the necessary military commitment to rebuild Libya, allowing it to become a haven for terrorists, criminals and people traffickers.
What are some arguments in favor of NATO?
- Supporters of NATO respond that it has played a vital role in encouraging peace and stability in the Balkans following the brutal ethnic conflicts of the 1990s.
- Russia’s annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 demonstrates Russia’s predatory nature. President Putin has simply used NATO expansion to justify his attempts to restore the former influence of the Soviet Union.
- NATO expansion eastwards has therefore provided potentially vulnerable nation states with the necessary protection of Article 5 (collective security). Without such guarantees, these countries would have been much more exposed to Russian expansionism.
- The Baltic states are particularly open to Russian intervention since they border Russia and have an ethnic Russian population (25% in Latvia, 24% in Estonia, 5% in Lithuania). Russia has claimed that ethnic Russians are being treated as ‘second-class citizens’ in the Baltic states. Their NATO membership is therefore vital in protecting them from what Russia could term a ‘humanitarian’ intervention in defence of the human rights of ethnic Russians.
- Given growing challenges to Western liberal democracy, NATO is vital in ensuring that the USA remains committed to its European allies and does not retreat into isolationism, as it so disastrously did in the 1930s.
- NATO exercises such as the biannual Cold Response hosted by Norway (which in 2022 involved 30,000 military personnel) provide a powerful realist incentive for Russia not to risk confrontation with the West.
What are the funding issues within NATO?
- In recent years, NATO has dealt with tensions over funding.
- Members have agreed to contribute at least 2% of their GDP to NATO’s budget.
- In 2021 only eight states reached this target.
- The USA contributes the largest percentage of any member state, representing two-thirds of NATO’S total budget contributions.
- President Donald Trump (2017-21) criticised other members for not paying their fair share of the budget.
How has NATO’s role changed?
- They had challenges. Previous to the Russian Ukraine war, there were questions about the point of NATO in a post cold war world.
- However, Russian expansionism has made NATO more relevant.
- Since the Russian annexation of crimea, NATO members have been increasing defense spending.
- Former prime minister Boris Johnson commented that Putin was “getting more NATO than he wanted”.
- For example, at the 2022 NATO summit, Finland and Sweden were both fast tracked for membership.
- All NATO members, except Hungary and Turkey, have collectively condemned Russia’s invasion and provided non-lethal and lethal military aid to Ukraine.
- Fears that NATO might expand into irrelevance have therefore been significantly lessened due to Russia’s actions.
What are the new challenges facing NATO?
- During the Cold War, it was clear that Article 5 (collective security would be triggered if the Soviets launched an attack on a NATO member’s territory.
- However, the circumstances surrounding the activation of Article 5 and what the response would be have since become much more complex.
Would a cyber-attack on a NATO member’s infrastructure constitute grounds for a collective response? If so, what would that collective response be? Would a misdirected missile landing in a NATO state trigger Article 5?
These are the sorts of questions NATO is …
continually having to ask if it is to maintain the effectiveness of its deterrent power.
Is NATO Still Effective and Relevant?
Arguments for NATO’s Continued Effectiveness (Yes):
- Security Guarantees:
- “There is still a need for a vigilant NATO presence in Europe to provide security guarantees for states bordering Russia.”
- Adaptability:
- “NATO’s role has adapted since the end of the Cold War to deal with numerous threats, including global terrorism (Afghanistan), piracy (Indian Ocean) and humanitarian crises (Kosovo, Libya).”
Is NATO Still Effective and Relevant?
rguments Against NATO’s Continued Effectiveness (No):
* Outdated Purpose:
* “Its founding purpose was to protect Western Europe against the Soviet Union, which was no longer necessary after the end of the Cold War. Its expansion to the east since has increased tensions with Russia.”
* Narrow Focus:
* “NATO has become too narrowly focused on the interests of its members rather than on wider security issues and other humanitarian crises.”
In simpler terms, some people think NATO is still important because it helps keep countries safe, especially those near Russia, and because it’s changed to handle new problems like terrorism. Other people think it’s not as useful anymore because its original job is done, it’s made Russia angry, and it mostly just cares about its own members.
