What is NATO's history, organization, functions,

organization, sealed the North Atlantic Treaty (NATO for short), which is also the naming of the North Atlantic Alliance is an intergovernmental military alliance.NATO, whose composition consists of 28 states bordering the North Atlantic Ocean (namely Canada, the US, Turkey and most of the members of the European Union), was established in order to protect their freedoms.In its agreement, signed in Washington on 4 April 1949, and argued that a NATO indicated that an armed attack against one of the members of the alliance should be seen as an attack on all.

The Alliance stands for the rule of law, democracy and individual freedom, the peaceful settlement of disputes and engaged in promotion of the values ​​of the Euro-Atlantic region.Headquartered in Brussels, Belgium.

So, what is NATO?This is a forum in which the countries of Europe and North America have the opportunity to consult with each other on security issues of common concern and take joint action to address these issues.In recent years, the goal of NATO has expanded to include protection against weapons of mass destruction, terrorism and cyber attacks.The fight against terrorism has been included in the priority objectives of the alliance after the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in September 2001, which is considered an attack on the United States.

To better understand what NATO is, let us turn to history.The military unit was created after World War II ended, in the framework of the United Nations.Its main purpose was to protect member countries from a large number of troops of the communist countries.Next, the history of NATO evolved during the Cold War, when the mission of the organization has expanded to prevent a nuclear war.After joining the West German Communist bloc countries, including the Soviet Union, Hungary, Bulgaria, Poland, Czechoslovakia, and East Germany, formed the Warsaw Pact alliance.In response, NATO has adopted a policy of massive retaliation, promising to use nuclear weapons in case of attack.

After the fall of the Berlin Wall took place in 1989, and after the collapse of the USSR NATO-Russia relations began to be based on bilateral cooperation.In 2002 there was the creation of the NATO-Russia Council, to regulate general questions of security.The highest priority was the alliance's mission in Afghanistan.For the success of peacekeeping missions even asked for help from its main rival - Russia.

For many years of existence, NATO has become stronger and closer ties between members.The Treaty itself served as a basis and a model for other international treaties collective security.Today, the question of what NATO can confidently answer: it is one of the most successful defensive alliance of all times, which currently affects the various world scenario changes.Our future world filled with known and unknown threats.NATO can act as a lighthouse in the open sea of ​​different hazards.