NATONorth Atlantic Treaty Organization

Significance of the Study

The Significance of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is that it helps pursue security and defence to different countries. Its primary goal is to maintain peace and security. As students, NATO is a great help for us in connection to our study of International Relations because it involves different countries from two continents namely North America and Europe. Countries from these two continents are part of the study of International Relations. To know NATO is a great opportunity to comprehend about the collective defence, crisis management and cooperative security development of the different countries in the world. NATO is also a community of shared interests and values. NATO countries consult in a shared forum, hold the same principles, and act together. They decide together.

Area of Study

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) involves 28 North American and European Countries. NATO countries have meetings to discuss issues and decide it together. NATO summit meetings are held in one of the member countries, including Belgium and NATO Headquarters. The NATO Headquarters is located at Boulevard Leopold III, 1110 Brussels, Belgium, on the northeast perimeter of the city. It is home to national delegations of member countries and to liaison offices or diplomatic missions of partner countries. Members volunteer to host a summit meeting and, after evaluating all offers, the North Atlantic Council (NAC) makes the final decision concerning the location. In recent years, summit locations have held some thematic significance. Just like the Washington Summit of 1999 commemorated the fiftieth anniversary of the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty in that city. Istanbul – which hosted a summit meeting in 2004 – connects Europe and Asia and is where the Alliance launched the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative. This initiative is intended to foster linkages between NATO and the broader Middle East.

Facts of the Case

NATO has a group namely the North Atlantic Council (NAC). The members of NAC are the secretary general chair which is supported by an International Staff of civilian and military experts and official from NATO countries. NAC brings together high-level representatives of each member country to discuss policy or operational questions requiring collective decisions. The 28 countries that are members of NATO are: Albania, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Turkey, United Kingdom and United States. In sum, it provides a forum for wide-ranging consultation between members on all issues affecting peace and security. Some key Achievements of NATO are the 1300 STANAGs (Standardization Agreements), NATO countries participated in the Korean War, the Lisbon Conference which expanded NATO's planned for the long term, the set up  of permanent force of 35 divisions supported by nuclear weapons and the set up the post of Secretary General with the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) situated in Paris, Military Exercises, Clandestine Planning Committee (CPC) and NATO countries were on standby during the Cuban Missiles crisis. NATO's biggest achievement was surviving the Cold War. NATO also conducts different Operations and Missions. Their current operations involve Afghanistan, Kosovo, Monitoring the Mediterranean Sea, counter-piracy off the horn of Africa and Supporting the Atlantic Union.

IV. ANALYSIS OF DATA

5 NATO Country Members

Member Country Personnel (North Atlantic Council Country Representative)

Funding ( Civil, Military and NATO Security Investment Programme based on Gross National Income)

United States of America Ivo H. Daalder 21.739422.404221.7499

United Kingdom Mariot Leslie 12.594411.547811.5478

Canada Yves Brodeur 5.95325.50005.5000

Netherlands Frank Majoor 3.32713.35163.3516

Denmark Carsten Sondergaard 1.26191.50201.5020

Conclusion

NATO is a great organization because it prioritizes the welfare of the different countries. It is also an organization that sets annual meetings to plan for their funding. Member countries make direct and indirect contributions to the costs of running NATO and implementing its policies and activities. There are three budgets that come under the organization; these are Civil Funding, Military Funding and NATO Security Investment Programme. The civil budget provides funds for personnel expenses, operating costs, and capital and programme expenditure of the International Staff at NATO Headquarters. The military budget covers the operating and maintenance costs of the international military structure. It is composed of over 50 separate budgets, which are financed from national defence budgets. The NATO Security Investment Programme (NSIP) covers major construction and command and control system investments, which are beyond the national defence requirements of individual member countries. All of the 28 member countries share in their funding. Countries like USA, UK, Canada, Denmark and Netherlands are examples. USA shares the biggest part of the funding followed by UK, then Canada, Denmark and lastly, Netherlands.

Recommendation

The North Atlantic Council (NAC) should often time address meetings in order to discuss different issues and also to clarify the arguments of different countries. In our world today, issues and conflicts are everywhere and NATO is the best organization to help solve these issues. They should also concentrate on the country that needs more assistance. NATO should have more operations and missions. It is also good if they focused more on peacekeeping and security because it is what we really need today. Peace is a very important factor for a successful state. Security is what every state would aim to. If these two are within the organization, it will surely help them maintain their goal. We also believe that NATO has been successful for their 63 years now since it was founded on April 4, 1949. This is because of their continuing assistance to other countries who needs them and for their still ongoing promotion for peacekeeping and security.

US UK Canada Netherlands Denmark0

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CivilMilitaryNSIP