Context:
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is celebrating 75 years of collective defence across Europe and North America.
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
- North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) formed in April 4, 1949 with the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty also known as Washington Treaty.
- Headquarter in Brussels, Belgium
- The Treaty derives its authority from Article 51 of the United Nations Charter, which reaffirms the inherent right of independent states to individual or collective defence.Objective of NATO
- It was created to provide collective security against the Soviet Union.
- NATO’s fundamental goal is to safeguard the Allies’ freedom and security by political and military means.
Article 5 of the Washington Treaty, stipulates that an attack on any one of its members must be met with a united response. It’s only ever been used once, after the Al-Qaeda attacks on U.S. soil in 2001.
- Al-Qaeda is a pan-Islamist militant organization.
Warsaw Pact (1955)
- The Warsaw Treaty Organization (also known as the Warsaw Pact) was a political and military alliance established on May 14, 1955 between the Soviet Union and several Eastern European countries.
- The Soviet Union formed this alliance as a counterbalance to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
Members
- NATO membership is open to “any other European state in a position to further the principles of this Treaty and to contribute to the security of the North Atlantic area”.
- NATO was established by 12 Founding members i.e., Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, the United Kingdom and the United States.
- At present, NATO has 32 member countries, 30 European and 2 North American countries (Canada and USA).
- Finland deposited its Instrument of Accession to the North Atlantic Treaty on 4 April 2023, becoming NATO’s 31st member country.
- Sweden deposited its Instrument of Accession to the North Atlantic Treaty on 7 March 2024, becoming NATO’s 32nd member country.
NATO Military Exercise
The term NATO Military Exercise includes all exercises for which NATO is the initiating or the joint initiating authority.
| Exercise | Important Information |
| STEADFAST DEFENDER 2024 | · It is the principal NATO multi-domain exercise for 2024 and is a series of national and multinational large-scale live exercises (LIVEX) conducted across various geographical locations within SACEUR’s area of responsibility. · It is the largest NATO exercise in decades with approximately 90,000 soldiers, sailors and airmen from 31 Allies and Sweden. |
| DYNAMIC MONGOOSE | · Led by Allied Maritime Command, the exercise Dynamic Mongoose, enables NATO Nations to practice submarine and anti-submarine warfare involving submarines, surface units and patrol aircraft. |
| RAMSTEIN LEGACY | · Led by Allied Air Command, Ramstein Legacy is a key NATO Integrated Air and Missile Defence (IAMD) exercise. · It involves combining Command and Control (C2) components with AWACS support, national airborne Air Defence (AD) and Surface Based Air and Missile Defence (SBAMD) Forces. · The goal is to practice tactical control of IAMD across various domains within NATO’s Tactical DataLink (TDL) network. |