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The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) is an intergovernmental military organisation consisting of 32 member states: 30 European member states, the United States and Canada. Its name comes from the North Atlantic Treaty, which forms the basis of NATO. The organisation operates under the basis of collective security, where member states promise to defend each other against attacks by third parties. Their main significance in international relations comes from the strong military alliances between the nation-states, and their status as a representation of the West’s solidarity and military strength to rivals, notably Russia and China.
The North Atlantic Treaty itself was signed in 1949. The body was originally created to provide countries in Europe with collective security against the Soviet Union during the Cold War. For the United States, this was also a product of their desire to create strong multilateral relations with European countries. The treaty also promises to safeguard the freedom and democracy of people in these countries, further promoting Western democratic ideals against conflicting ideologies, particularly communism during the Cold War.
After the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact and the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, NATO’s main international adversary, the Soviet Union, was removed, which prompted the organisation to expand into political and humanitarian concerns. This was not originally part of their main work, but now their activities include organising summits, aid and disaster response. NATO’s military interventions did not begin until after the Cold War, addressing the aftermath of the breakup of the USSR, which included interventions in the Bosnian War and the Kosovo War. However, both of these interventions were seen as controversial. The Bosnian war was seen as exceptionally violent due to the Srebrenica genocide in 1995, where more than 8,000 Bosniak Muslim men and boys were killed, so NATO not being able to prevent it was seen as a failure on NATO’s part. NATO also received criticism for its actions during the Kosovo intervention due to the civilian casualties resulting from the operation and ambiguity over whether the bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999 was even legitimate, as the operation did not have the backing of the UN Security Council. In response to these controversies and criticisms, the alliance adopted a new Strategic Concept, which emphasised crisis management and conflict prevention.
In recent years, NATO’s influence on international relations has been most significant in relation to the Russian invasion of Ukraine starting in 2022. Since the annexation of Crimea in 2014, Ukraine has sought membership within the organisation. This action has received opposition from Russia and further deteriorated relations between the two countries, as Russia fears the presence of NATO forces near its borders and a reduction in its ability to influence Ukraine. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Ukraine formally applied to join NATO.
Critics continue to cast aspersions about whether NATO still has a place in orchestrating the world order. Check out this video for more.
NATO’s members have announced their support for Ukraine, and some countries such as the US and the UK have even supplied ammunition and military aid to Ukraine, including F-16 fighter jets. NATO and the US extending their influence and actions to Eastern Europe conveys the US’ willingness to increase multilateral relations and open up talks with more Eastern European countries, as they previously had the most influence in Western Europe. This threatens Russia’s relations with European countries and reduces its geopolitical influence in these countries, and consequently, the US involvement in the war has received strong criticism from Russia. Despite this, NATO and Ukraine maintain a strong alliance, and Ukraine has not stopped their pursuit of NATO membership, in which it has the support of NATO’s members, although no timeline for Ukraine to join the alliance has been announced.
To conclude, NATO is a significant international organisation created by a treaty which commits members to supporting each other in the case of war. It is not only significant due to the interventions it has conducted, but also due to its promotion of Western democracy, which causes clashes with other powers globally. They remain significant in relation to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, both in providing support to Ukraine and in working towards achieving its membership of the organisation.
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