NATO full form: NATO stands for North Atlantic Treaty organization; the main aim of NATO is to provide security to its members and to protect their freedom. This organization is a 28 country political and military alliance. 

NATO’s Command Structure is tagged under the authority of the Military Committee. The highest military authority of NATO is composed of the Chiefs of Defence of all the 29 member countries. The NCS comprises of two strategic commands namely: Allied Command Operations (ACO) and Allied Command Transformation (ACT).

The headquarters of NATO is located in Brussels, Belgium. NATO was established for collective defence in the year 1949 on 4th April. 

Objectives: 

  • The primary objective of NATO is to safeguard and protect the freedom of its members without compromising on their security. 
  • In recent years, NATO extended its objectives in the view of violence that was increasing in the world. 
  • NATO works towards defending their member countries against terrorism, cyber-attack and equipment for mass destruction.  

History:

  • NATO was first created when the United States and many other European nations came forward to join North Atlantic Treaty to defend their nations against various types of attacks. NATO was formed after the 2nd world war in the year 1949.
  • NATO started with only 12 member countries namely: Belgium, Denmark, Canada, France, Italy, Iceland, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Norway, Portugal, the United Kingdom and the United States.
  • After that Greece and Turkey joined the association in the year 1952.
  • In 1955, West Germany joined the NATO organization. 
  • Following this development, Spain joined the association in 1982.
  • Hungary, the Czech Republic as well as Poland participated in the NATO organization in the year 1997. After that seven other nations joined in the year 2004.
  • After one year following this major change NATO took full charge of the United Nations Mandated ISAF i.e. International Security Assistance Force, Estonia, Latvia, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Lithuania, Slovakia, and Romania. 
  • Albania & Croatia became members in the year 2009.

The name of 30 member countries of NATO is given below:

  1. Canada
  2. France
  3. The United States of America
  4. The United Kingdom
  5. Turkey
  6. Albania
  7. Slovenia
  8. Spain
  9. Belgium
  10. Slovakia
  11. Bulgaria
  12. Romania
  13. Croatia
  14. Portugal
  15. Czech Republic
  16. Poland
  17. Denmark
  18. Norway
  19. Estonia
  20. North Macedonia
  21. France
  22. The Netherlands
  23. Greece
  24. Montenegro
  25. Hungary
  26. Luxembourg
  27. Iceland
  28. Lithuania
  29. Italy
  30. Latvia

NATO full form: The world got to see the power of NATO for the first time after the famous 9/11 attack that happened in the United State of America. 

Russia and Ukraine is not a part of NATO, Russia doesn’t want Ukraine to be a part of NATO and wanted assurance from the present members that Ukraine shall not join the NATO organization. 

However, due to recent developments happening in Ukraine, Ukraine showed interest in joining NATO. But this did not go well with Russia and considering different factors of the past movements Russia called out a military attack on Ukraine In February of 2022. 

Few drawbacks of NATO:

Although NATO is an organization that provides safety and security to all its member countries, it also some drawbacks mentioned below: 

  1. NATO is being criticized by its members for lacking transparency and accountability. 
  2. Some nations state that NATO is no longer relevant as it was post Cold War World. 
  3. NATO is very slow in making decisions and acting upon situations.
  4. It is generally seen as a tool of Western imperialism, the only point is it was established by the United States and other European countries. 
  5. NATO is accused of interventionism, especially in Libya and the Balkans. 

However, despite these limitations, NATO is considered one of the most important institutions of the international system. 

It provides a conference and meeting for discussing critical situations regarding the security and safety of Europe and North America. 

Presently, the lists of countries that are not members of NATO include:

  • Andorra
  • Armenia
  • Austria
  • Azerbaijan
  • Belarus
  • Bosnia 
  • Herzegovina
  • Cyprus
  • Finland
  • Ireland
  • Kosovo
  • Malta
  • Moldova
  • Monaco
  • Russia
  • San Marino
  • Serbia
  • Sweden
  • Switzerland
  • Ukraine

FAQs: NATO full form

Q1. Is NATO powerful?

A1. Yes, NATO is considered the most powerful alliance in the whole world. But the support from its members and partner nations will be required to carry out operations and missions. If all the members of NATO work together with the same goal then NATO will be the most powerful organization. 

Q2. Which country of NATO is considered the most powerful?

A2. The United States of America is considered the most powerful NATO member, the US has agreed to come to the defence of all NATO allies in case of any help needed. 

Q3. Why Russia doesn’t want Ukraine to join NATO?

A3. Russia doesn’t want the United States to dominate Eastern Europe; if Ukraine joins NATO then the chances of the US dominance will increase. 

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