   #copyright

NATO

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Politics and government

         North Atlantic Treaty Organisation
   Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique Nord
   Organización del Tratado del Atlántico Norte

   Flag of NATO
   Flag of NATO

   NATO countries are in blue
   NATO countries are in blue
       Formation      4 April 1949
          Type        Military alliance
      Headquarters    Brussels, Belgium
       Membership     26 member states
   Official languages English, French
   Secretary General  Jaap de Hoop Scheffer
        Website
                      http://www.nato.int/
   NATO 2002 Summit in Prague
   NATO 2002 Summit in Prague

   The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO; French: Organisation du
   Traité de l'Atlantique Nord ("OTAN"); also called the North Atlantic
   Alliance, the Atlantic Alliance, or the Western Alliance) is a military
   alliance established by the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty on
   April 4, 1949. With headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, the organisation
   establishes a system of collective security whereby its member states
   agree to mutual defense in response to an attack by any external party.

History

Beginnings

   The Treaty of Brussels, signed on 17 March 1948 by Belgium, the
   Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, and the United Kingdom, is considered
   the precursor to the NATO agreement. This treaty established a military
   alliance, later to become the Western European Union. However, American
   participation was thought necessary in order to counter the military
   power of the Soviet Union, and therefore talks for a new military
   alliance began almost immediately.

   These talks resulted in the North Atlantic Treaty, created by Lester B.
   Pearson, which was signed in Washington, DC on 4 April 1949. It
   included the five Treaty of Brussels states, as well as the United
   States, Canada, Portugal, Italy, Norway, Denmark and Iceland. Three
   years later, on 18 February 1952, Greece and Turkey also joined.
   Because of geography, Australia and New Zealand missed out on
   membership. In place of this, the ANZUS agreement was made by the
   United States with these nations.

   In 1954 the Soviet Union suggested that it should join NATO to preserve
   peace in Europe. The NATO countries rejected this, seeing it as an
   attempt to subvert NATO from within.

   The incorporation of West Germany into the organisation on 9 May 1955
   was described as "a decisive turning point in the history of our
   continent" by Halvard Lange, Foreign Minister of Norway at the time.
   Indeed, one of its immediate results was the creation of the Warsaw
   Pact, signed on 14 May 1955 by the Soviet Union and its satellite
   states as a formal response to this event, firmly establishing the two
   opposing sides of the Cold War.

Early Cold War

   The unity of NATO was breached early on in its history, with a crisis
   occurring during Charles de Gaulle's presidency of France from 1958
   onward. De Gaulle protested the United States' hegemonical role in the
   organisation and protested what he perceived as a special relationship
   between the United States and the United Kingdom. In a memorandum he
   sent on 17 September 1958 to President Eisenhower and Prime Minister
   Harold Macmillan, he argued for the creation of a tripartite
   directorate that would put France on an equal footing with the United
   States and the United Kingdom, and also for the expansion of NATO's
   coverage to include geographical areas of interest to France.

   Considering the response he was given to be unsatisfactory, de Gaulle
   started pursuing an independent defence for his country. France
   withdrew its Mediterranean fleet from NATO command on March 11, 1959,
   and pursued an independent nuclear program, theorizing the " Force de
   frappe" (Striking Force) meant for deterrence. In June 1959, de Gaulle
   banned the stationing of foreign nuclear weapons on French soil, which
   caused the United States to transfer 200 military aircraft out of
   France. Henceforth, the 26th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing stationed in
   Toul-Rosières Air Base was relocated to Ramstein AB in Germany and the
   base returned to French control in 1967. Between 1950 and 1967, the US
   Air Force operated ten major bases in France. On February 13, 1960,
   France tested its first nuclear bomb, Gerboise Bleue.

   Though France showed solidarity with the rest of NATO during the Cuban
   missile crisis in 1962, de Gaulle continued his pursuit of an
   independent defence by also removing the Atlantic and Channel fleets of
   France from NATO command. In 1966 all French armed forces were removed
   from NATO’s integrated military command and all non-French NATO troops
   were asked to leave France. But the country remained in the political
   alliance. This withdrawal precipitated the relocation of the Supreme
   Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) from Paris to Casteau, north
   of Mons, Belgium, by 16 October 1967. France rejoined NATO's military
   command in 1993.

   The creation of NATO had as consequences the necessity for
   standardisation of military technology and unified strategy, through
   Command, Control and Communications centers (aka C4ISTAR). The STANAG
   (Standardisation Agreement) insured such coherence. Hence, the 7.62×51
   NATO rifle cartridge was introduced in the 1950s as a standard firearm
   cartridge among NATO countries. Fabrique Nationale's FAL became the
   most popular 7.62 NATO rifle in Europe and served into the early 1980s.
   Also, aircraft marshalling signals were standardised, so that any NATO
   aircraft could land at any NATO base.

Détente

   During most of the duration of the Cold War, NATO maintained a holding
   pattern with no actual military engagement as an organisation. On 1
   July 1968, the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty opened for signature:
   NATO argued that its nuclear weapons sharing arrangements did not
   breach the treaty as US forces controlled the weapons until a decision
   was made to go to war, at which point the treaty would no longer be
   controlling. Few states knew of the NATO nuclear sharing arrangements
   at that time, and they were not challenged.

   On 30 May 1978, NATO countries officially defined two complementary
   aims of the Alliance, to maintain security and pursue détente. This was
   supposed to mean matching defences at the level rendered necessary by
   the Warsaw Pact's offensive capabilities without spurring a further
   arms race.

   However, on 12 December 1979, in light of a build-up of Warsaw Pact
   nuclear capabilities in Europe, ministers approved the deployment of US
   Cruise and Pershing II theatre nuclear weapons in Europe. The new
   warheads were also meant to strengthen the western negotiating position
   in regard to nuclear disarmament. This policy was called the Dual Track
   policy. Similarly, in 1983–84, responding to the stationing of Warsaw
   Pact SS-20 medium-range missiles in Europe, NATO deployed modern
   Pershing II missiles able to reach Moscow within minutes. This action
   led to peace movement protests throughout Western Europe.

   The membership of the organisation in this time period likewise
   remained largely static, with NATO only gaining one new member in 30
   May 1982, when newly democratic Spain joined the alliance, following a
   referendum. Greece also in 1974 withdrew its forces from NATO’s
   military command structure, as a result of Greco-Turkish tensions
   following the 1974 Cyprus dispute; Greek forces were however readmitted
   in 1980, with Turkish cooperation.

   In November 1983, a NATO manoeuvre code-named Able Archer 83, which
   simulated a NATO nuclear release, caused panic in the Kremlin. Soviet
   leadership, led by ailing General Secretary Yuri Andropov became
   concerned that US President Ronald Reagan may have been intending to
   launch a genuine first strike. In response, Soviet nuclear forces were
   readied and air units in Eastern Germany and Poland were placed on
   alert. Though at the time written off by US intelligence as a
   propaganda effort, many historians now believe Soviet fear of a NATO
   first strike was genuine.

Cold War stay behind armies

   NATO was founded early in the Cold War with the express aim of
   defending western Europe against a military invasion by the Soviet
   Union. On 24 October 1990, Italian Prime minister Giulio Andreotti
   (member of the Christian Democracy, DC) publicly revealed the existence
   of Gladio, a clandestine paramilitary militia, known as " stay-behind
   armies", which had as official aim to carry on guerrilla warfare behind
   enemy lines in case of a successful Warsaw Pact invasion. Andreotti
   told the Italian Parliament that NATO had long held a covert policy of
   training partisans in the event of a Soviet Invasion of Western Europe.

   Spurred by the difficulties in setting up partisan organisation in
   occupied Europe during the Second World War, the CIA, British MI6 and
   NATO trained and armed partisan groups in NATO states to fight a
   guerrilla war if they were conquered in the event of a Warsaw Pact
   invasion. Operating in all of NATO and even in neutral countries
   (Austria, Finland - see also Operation Stella Polaris -, Sweden or
   Switzerland, one of the three state who had a parliamentary inquiry in
   the matter) or in Spain before its 1982 adhesion to NATO, Gladio was
   first coordinated by the Clandestine Committee of the Western Union
   (CCWU), founded in 1948. After the 1949 creation of NATO, the CCWU was
   integrated into the Clandestine Planning Committee (CPC), founded in
   1951 and overseen by the SHAPE (Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers
   Europe), transferred to Belgium after France’s official retreat from
   NATO in 1966 — which was not followed by the dissolution of the French
   stay-behind paramilitary movements. According to historian Daniele
   Ganser, one of the major researcher on the field, "Next to the CPC, a
   second secret army command centre, labeled Allied Clandestine Committee
   (ACC), was set up in 1957 on the orders of NATO's Supreme Allied
   Commander in Europe (SACEUR). This military structure provided for
   significant US leverage over the secret stay-behind networks in Western
   Europe as the SACEUR, throughout NATO's history, has traditionally been
   a US General who reports to the Pentagon in Washington and is based in
   NATO's Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) in Mons,
   Belgium. The ACC's duties included elaborating on the directives of the
   network, developing its clandestine capability, and organizing bases in
   Britain and the United States. In wartime, it was to plan stay-behind
   operations in conjunction with SHAPE. According to former CIA director
   William Colby, it was 'a major program'."

   The existence of Gladio, one of the best kept secret during the Cold
   War, is now widely recognised. Belgium, Italy and Switzerland have held
   parliamentary inquiries in the matter. What remains controversial is
   the ties between Gladio members, of whom many belonged to neo-fascist
   movements, and false flag terrorist attacks. A NATO spokesman denied on
   5 November 1990 any knowledge or involvement with Gladio and has since
   refused to comment. the US State Department has itself admitted the
   existence of Gladio, but denied it has been involved in terrorism, in
   particular in Italy and in Greece.

   In Italy in particular, Gladio paramilitary groups have been accused by
   the justice of having carried out dozens of terrorist bombings, which
   were officially blamed on leftist groups such as the Red Brigades. It
   has been alleged that these groups and the individuals in them were
   responsible for the strategy of tension in Italy which aimed at
   impeding the " historic compromise" between the Christian Democracy and
   the Italian Communist Party (PCI) (including the 1969 Piazza Fontana
   bombing and the Bologna massacre (1980)) political assassinations in
   Belgium, military coups in Greece (1967) and Turkey (1980) and an
   attempted coup in France (1961). The supposed aim of this group was to
   prevent Communist movements in Western Europe from gaining power. Some
   researchers have said that the true aim was to increase the power and
   control of the United States over Europe.

   In 2000, a report from the Italian Left Democrat party, "Gruppo
   Democratici di Sinistra l'Ulivo", concluded that the strategy of
   tension had been supported by the United States to "stop the PCI
   (Communist Party), and to a certain degree also the PSI, from reaching
   executive power in the country". A report, stated that "Those
   massacres, those bombs, those military actions had been organised or
   promoted or supported by men inside Italian state institutions and, as
   has been discovered more recently, by men linked to the structures of
   United States intelligence."

Post-Cold War

   The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact in 1991
   removed the de facto main adversary of NATO. This caused a strategic
   re-evaluation of NATO's purpose, nature and tasks. In practice this
   ended up entailing a gradual (and still ongoing) expansion of NATO to
   Eastern Europe, as well as the extension of its activities to areas
   that had not formerly been NATO concerns. The first post-Cold War
   expansion of NATO came with the reunification of Germany on 3 October
   1990, when the former East Germany became part of the Federal Republic
   of Germany and the alliance. This had been agreed in the Two Plus Four
   Treaty earlier in the year. To secure Soviet approval of a united
   Germany remaining in NATO, it was agreed that foreign troops and
   nuclear weapons would not be stationed in the east, and also that NATO
   would never expand further east.

   On 28 February 1994, NATO also took its first military action, shooting
   down four Bosnian Serb aircraft violating a UN-mandated no-fly zone
   over central Bosnia and Herzegovina. Operation Deny Flight, the
   no-fly-zone enforcement mission, had began a year before, on 12 April
   1993, and was to continue until 20 December 1995. NATO air strikes that
   year helped bring the war in Bosnia to an end, resulting in the Dayton
   Agreement.

   Between 1994 and 1997, wider forums for regional cooperation between
   NATO and its neighbours were set up, like the Partnership for Peace,
   the Mediterranean Dialogue initiative and the Euro-Atlantic Partnership
   Council. On 8 July 1997, three former communist countries, Hungary, the
   Czech Republic, and Poland, were invited to join NATO, which finally
   happened in 1999.

   On 24 March 1999, NATO saw its first broad-scale military engagement in
   the Kosovo War, where it waged an 11-week bombing campaign against what
   was then the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. A formal declaration of
   war never took place. Yugoslavia referred to the Kosovo War as military
   aggression, as being undeclared and contravening the UN Charter. The
   conflict ended on 11 June 1999, when Yugoslavian leader Slobodan
   Milošević agreed to NATO’s demands by accepting UN resolution 1244.
   NATO then helped establish the KFOR, a NATO-led force under a United
   Nations mandate that operated the military mission in Kosovo.

   Debate concerning NATO's role and the concerns of the wider
   international community continued throughout its expanded military
   activities: The United States opposed efforts to require the UN
   Security Council to approve NATO military strikes, such as the ongoing
   action against Yugoslavia, while France and other NATO countries
   claimed the alliance needed UN approval. American officials said that
   this would undermine the authority of the alliance, and they noted that
   Russia and China would have exercised their Security Council vetoes to
   block the strike on Yugoslavia. In April 1999, at the Washington
   summit, a German proposal that NATO adopt a no-first-use nuclear
   strategy was rejected.

After the September 11 attacks

   The expansion of the activities and geographical reach of NATO grew
   even further as an outcome of the September 11 attacks. These caused as
   a response the provisional invocation (on September 12) of the
   collective security of NATO's charter — Article 5 which states that any
   attack on a member state will be considered an attack against the
   entire group of members. The invocation was confirmed on 4 October 2001
   when NATO determined that the attacks were indeed eligible under the
   terms of the North Atlantic Treaty. The eight official actions taken by
   NATO in response to the attacks included the first two examples of
   military action taken in response to an invocation of Article 5:
   Operation Eagle Assist and Operation Active Endeavour.

   Despite this early show of solidarity, NATO faced a crisis little more
   than a year later, when on 10 February 2003, France and Belgium vetoed
   the procedure of silent approval concerning the timing of protective
   measures for Turkey in case of a possible war with Iraq. Germany did
   not use its right to break the procedure but said it supported the
   veto.

   On the issue of Afghanistan on the other hand, the alliance showed
   greater unity: On 16 April 2003 NATO agreed to take command of the
   International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan. The
   decision came at the request of Germany and the Netherlands, the two
   nations leading ISAF at the time of the agreement, and all 19 NATO
   ambassadors approved it unanimously. The handover of control to NATO
   took place on 11 August, and marked the first time in NATO’s history
   that it took charge of a mission outside the north Atlantic area.
   Canada had originally been slated to take over ISAF by itself on that
   date.

   In January 2004, NATO appointed Minister Hikmet Çetin, of Turkey, as
   the Senior Civilian Representative (SCR) in Afghanistan. Minister Cetin
   is primarily responsible for advancing the political-military aspects
   of the Alliance in Afghanistan.

   On 31 July 2006, a NATO-led force, made up mostly of troops from
   Canada, Great Britain, Turkey and the Netherlands, took over military
   operations in the south of Afghanistan from a U.S.-led anti-terrorism
   coalition.

Expansion and restructuring

   The NATO Secretary General, the U.S. President, and the Prime Ministers
   of Latvia, Slovenia, Lithuania, Slovakia, Romania, Bulgaria, and
   Estonia after a ceremony welcoming them into NATO on 29 March 2004.
   The NATO Secretary General, the U.S. President, and the Prime Ministers
   of Latvia, Slovenia, Lithuania, Slovakia, Romania, Bulgaria, and
   Estonia after a ceremony welcoming them into NATO on 29 March 2004.

   New NATO structures were also formed while old ones were abolished: The
   NATO Response Force (NRF) was launched at the 2002 Prague Summit on 21
   November. On 19 June 2003, a major restructuring of the NATO military
   commands began as the Headquarters of the Supreme Allied Commander,
   Atlantic were abolished and a new command, Allied Command
   Transformation (ACT), was established in Norfolk, Virginia, USA, and
   the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) became the
   Headquarters of Allied Command Operations (ACO). ACT is responsible for
   driving transformation (future capabilities) in NATO, whilst ACO is
   responsible for current operations.

   Membership went on expanding with the accession of seven more Northern
   European and Eastern European countries to NATO: Estonia, Latvia and
   Lithuania (see Baltic Air Policing) and also Slovenia, Slovakia,
   Bulgaria, and Romania. They were first invited to start talks of
   membership during the 2002 Prague Summit, and joined NATO on 29 March
   2004.

   A number of other countries have also expressed a wish to join the
   alliance, including Albania, Croatia, the former Yugoslav Republic of
   Macedonia, Georgia and Montenegro.

   From the Russian point of view, NATO's eastward expansion since the end
   of the cold war has been in clear breach of an agreement between Soviet
   leader Mikhail Gorbachev and US President George H.W. Bush which
   allowed for a peaceful unification of Germany. NATO's expansion policy
   is seen as a continuation of a Cold War attempt to surround and isolate
   Russia.

   The 2006 NATO summit was held in Riga, Latvia, which had joined the
   Atlantic Alliance two years earlier. It is the first NATO summit in a
   former COMECON country.

ISAF

   In August 2003, NATO commenced first mission ever outside Europe when
   it assumed control over International Security Assistance Force (ISAF)
   in Afghanistan. However, some critics feel that national caveats or
   other restrictions undermine the efficiency of ISAF. For instance,
   political scientist Joseph Nye stated in a 2006 article that "many NATO
   countries with troops in Afghanistan have "national caveats" that
   restrict how their troops may be used. While the Riga summit relaxed
   some of these caveats to allow assistance to allies in dire
   circumstances, Britain, Canada, the Netherlands, and the US are doing
   most of the fighting in southern Afghanistan, while French, German, and
   Italian troops are deployed in the quieter north. It is difficult to
   see how NATO can succeed in stabilizing Afghanistan unless it is
   willing to commit more troops and give commanders more flexibility." If
   these caveats were to be eliminated, it is argued that this could help
   NATO to succeed.

Membership

Current members

   Map of NATO countries
   Map of NATO countries
   Membership of NATO in Europe
   Membership of NATO in Europe
   Date Country Expansion Notes
   April 4, 1949 Flag of Belgium  Belgium Founders
   April 4, 1949 Flag of Canada  Canada Founders
   April 4, 1949 Flag of Denmark  Denmark Founders
   April 4, 1949 Flag of France  France Founders France withdrew from the
   integrated military command in 1966. From then until 1993 it had
   remained solely a member of NATO's political structure.
   April 4, 1949 Flag of Iceland  Iceland Founders Iceland, the sole
   member that does not have its own standing army (The Iceland Defense
   Force, the United States military contingent stationed in Iceland, was
   withdrawn September 2006), joined on the condition that they would not
   be expected to establish one. However, it has a Coast Guard and has
   recently provided troops trained in Norway for NATO peacekeeping.
   April 4, 1949 Flag of Italy  Italy Founders
   April 4, 1949 Flag of Luxembourg  Luxembourg Founders
   April 4, 1949 Flag of Netherlands  Netherlands Founders
   April 4, 1949 Flag of Norway  Norway Founders
   April 4, 1949 Flag of Portugal  Portugal Founders
   April 4, 1949 Flag of United Kingdom  United Kingdom Founders
   April 4, 1949 Flag of United States  United States Founders
   18 February 1952 Flag of Greece  Greece First Greece withdrew its
   forces from NATO’s military command structure from 1974 to 1980 as a
   result of Greco-Turkish tensions following the 1974 Cyprus dispute.
   18 February 1952 Flag of Turkey  Turkey First
   9 May 1955 Flag of Germany  Germany Second (as West Germany; Saarland
   reunited with it in 1957 and the territory of the former German
   Democratic Republic reunited with it on 3 October 1990)
   30 May 1982 Flag of Spain  Spain Third
   12 March 1999 Flag of Czech Republic  Czech Republic Fourth
   12 March 1999 Flag of Hungary  Hungary Fourth
   12 March 1999 Flag of Poland  Poland Fourth
   29 March 2004 Flag of Bulgaria  Bulgaria Fifth
   29 March 2004 Flag of Estonia  Estonia Fifth
   29 March 2004 Flag of Latvia  Latvia Fifth
   29 March 2004 Flag of Lithuania  Lithuania Fifth
   29 March 2004 Flag of Romania  Romania Fifth
   29 March 2004 Flag of Slovakia  Slovakia Fifth
   29 March 2004 Flag of Slovenia  Slovenia Fifth

Future membership

   Article X of the North Atlantic Treaty makes it possible that
   non-member states join NATO:

   “ The Parties may, by unanimous agreement, invite 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 to accede to this
        Treaty. Any State so invited may become a Party to the Treaty by
        depositing its instrument of accession with the Government of the
        United States of America. The Government of the United States of
       America will inform each of the Parties of the deposit of each such
                            instrument of accession.                        ”

   Note that this article poses two general limits to non-member states:
   (1) only European states are eligible for membership and (2) these
   states need the approval of all the existing member states. The second
   criterion means that every member state can put some criteria forward
   that have to be attained. In practice, NATO formulates in most cases a
   common set of criteria, but for instance in the case of Cyprus, Turkey
   blocks Cyprus' wish to be able to apply for membership as long as the
   Cyprus dispute is not resolved.

Membership Action Plan

   As a procedure for nations wishing to join NATO, a mechanism called
   Membership Action Plan (MAP) was approved in the Washington Summit of
   1999. A country's participation in MAP entails the annual presentation
   of reports concerning its progress on five different measures:
     * Willingness to settle international, ethnic or external territorial
       disputes by peaceful means, commitment to the rule of law and human
       rights, and democratic control of armed forces
     * Ability to contribute to the organisation's defence and missions
     * Devotion of sufficient resources to armed forces to be able to meet
       the commitments of membership
     * Security of sensitive information, and safeguards ensuring it
     * Compatibility of domestic legislation with NATO cooperation

   NATO provides feedback as well as technical advice to each country and
   evaluates its progress on an individual basis.

   NATO is also unlikely to invite countries such as the Republic of
   Ireland, Sweden, Finland, Austria and Switzerland, where popular
   opinion and the elected governments do not support NATO membership.
   NATO officially recognises the policy of neutrality practised in these
   countries, and does not consider the failure to set a goal for NATO
   membership as a sign of distrust.
   Country Partnership for Peace Individual Partnership Action Plan NATO
   membership declared as goal Intensified Dialogue Membership Action Plan
   NATO membership
   Flag of Albania  Albania February 1994 - Yes  Yes - April 1999 Expected
   2008
   Flag of Croatia  Croatia May 2000 - Yes  Yes - May 2002 Expected 2008
   Flag of Republic of Macedonia  Republic of Macedonia (under the name "
   Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia") November 1995 - Yes  Yes -
   April 1999 Expected 2008
   Flag of Georgia (country)  Georgia March 1994 October 2004 Yes  Yes
   September 2006 Expected 2007 Expected 2009
   Flag of Montenegro  Montenegro December 2006 - Yes  Yes - Expected 2007
   Expected 2010
   Flag of Serbia  Serbia December 2006 - Yes  Yes - Expected 2007 -
   Flag of Ukraine  Ukraine February 1994 - Yes  Yes April 2005 - -
   Flag of Azerbaijan  Azerbaijan May 1994 May 2005 Yes  Yes - - -
   Flag of Armenia  Armenia October 1994 December 2005 Yes  Yes - - -
   Flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina  Bosnia and Herzegovina December 2006 -
   Yes  Yes - - -
   Flag of Kazakhstan  Kazakhstan May 1994 January 2006 No  No - - -
   Flag of Moldova  Moldova March 1994 May 2006 - - - -
   Flag of Finland  Finland May 1994 - No  No - - -
   Flag of Sweden  Sweden May 1994 - No  No - - -
   Flag of Turkmenistan  Turkmenistan May 1994 - No  No - - -
   Flag of Kyrgyzstan  Kyrgyzstan June 1994 - No  No - - -
   Flag of Russia  Russia June 1994 - No  No - - -
   Flag of Uzbekistan  Uzbekistan July 1994 - No  No - - -
   Flag of Belarus  Belarus January 1995 - No  No - - -
   Flag of Austria  Austria February 1995 - No  No - - -
   Flag of Switzerland  Switzerland December 1996 - No  No - - -
   Flag of Republic of Ireland  Republic of Ireland December 1999 - No  No
   - - -
   Flag of Tajikistan  Tajikistan February 2002 - No  No - - -
   Flag of Cyprus  Cyprus Pending resolution of the Cyprus dispute - - - -
   -
   Flag of Malta  Malta Former signatory, 1994 – 1996 - No  No - - -

Debate about membership

Croatia

   A 2003 opinion poll showed that about 60 percent of the Croatian
   citizens were in favour of NATO membership. Support for membership
   however has steadily declined since Western states and organizations
   (such as the NATO and the EU) demanded the arrest of the popular
   Croatian war general Ante Gotovina (until he was captured in 2005) and
   since the beginning of the Iraq War. A 2006 opinion poll showed that
   only 29% of the population still supported NATO membership. It is not
   yet known how Croatia will make the final decision about membership:
   through an act of parliament or via a binding referendum. If the latter
   is the case, the prospect of NATO membership is slim. Due to the lack
   of public support, the Croatian government, which considers NATO
   membership a top priority, is currently preparing a new strategy to
   promote the benefits of membership.

Finland

   Finland is participating in nearly all sub-areas of the Partnership for
   Peace programme, and has provided peacekeeping forces to the
   Afghanistan and Kosovo missions. The possibility of Finland's
   membership in NATO was one of the most major issues debated in relation
   to the Finnish presidential election of 2006.

   The main contester of the presidency, Sauli Niinistö of the National
   Coalition Party, supported Finland joining a "more European" NATO.
   Fellow right-winger Henrik Lax of the Swedish People's Party likewise
   supported the concept. On the other side, incumbent president Tarja
   Halonen of the Social Democratic Party opposed changing the status quo,
   as did most other candidates in the election. Her victory and
   re-election to the post of president has currently put the issue of a
   NATO membership for Finland on hold for at least the duration of her
   term.

   Other political figures of Finland who have weighed in with opinions
   include former President of Finland Martti Ahtisaari who has argued
   that Finland should join all the organisations supported by other
   Western democracies in order "to shrug off once and for all the burden
   of Finlandisation". Another former president, Mauno Koivisto, opposes
   the idea, arguing that NATO membership would ruin Finland's relations
   with Russia.

   Polls in Finland indicate that the public is strongly against NATO
   membership.

Sweden

   In 1949 Sweden elected not to join NATO and declared a security policy
   which remains in effect today: non-alignment in peace, neutrality in
   war. This position was maintained without much discussion during the
   Cold War. Since the '90's however there has been an active debate in
   Sweden on the question of NATO membership in the post-Cold War world.
   While the government parties in Sweden have opposed membership, they
   have participated in NATO-led missions in Bosnia ( IFOR and SFOR),
   Kosovo ( KFOR) and Afghanistan ( ISAF).

   The Swedish Centre Party and Social Democratic party have remained in
   favour of neutrality. This view is shared by Green and Left parties in
   Sweden. The Moderate Party and the Liberal party lean toward NATO
   membership.

   These ideological cleavages were visible again in November 2006 when
   Sweden could either buy two new transport planes or join NATO's plane
   pool, and in December 2006, when Sweden was invited to join the NATO
   Response Force.

   A 2006 poll showed that the majority of Swedes remain opposed to
   joining NATO (46% are against, 22% are in favour, ±5% error margin).

Ukraine

   Ukraine Defence Minister Anatoliy Hrytsenko declared that Ukraine would
   have an Action Plan on NATO membership by the end of March 2006, to
   begin implementation by September 2006. A final decision concerning
   Ukraine's membership in NATO is expected to be made in 2008, with full
   membership possible by 2010.

   The idea of Ukrainian membership in NATO has gained support from a
   number of NATO leaders, including President Traian Băsescu of Romania
   and president Ivan Gašparovič of Slovakia. The Deputy Foreign Minister
   of Russia, Alexander Grushko, announced however that NATO membership
   for Ukraine was not in Russia's best interests and wouldn't help the
   relations of the two countries.

   Currently a majority of Ukrainian citizens oppose NATO membership,
   independently of their respective political views and beliefs. Protests
   have taken place by opposition blocs against the idea, and petitions
   signed urging the end of relations with NATO. Former Prime Minister
   Yuriy Yekhanurov has indicated Ukraine will not enter NATO as long as
   the public continues opposing the move. Plans for membership were
   shelved on 14 September 2006 due to the overwhelming disapproval of
   NATO membership. Currently the Ukrainian Government started an
   information campaign, aimed at informing the Ukrainian people about the
   consequences of membership. The likelihood of a referendum regarding
   membership is growing.

Cooperation with non-member states

        NATO member states      Partnership for Peace countries
   Mediterranean Dialogue countries
        NATO member states      Partnership for Peace countries
   Mediterranean Dialogue countries

Euro-Atlantic Partnership

   A double framework has been established to help further co-operation
   between the 26 NATO members and 23 "partner countries".
     * The Partnership for Peace (PfP) programme was established in 1994
       and is based on individual bilateral relations between each partner
       country and NATO: each country may choose the extent of its
       participation. The PfP programme is considered the operational wing
       of the Euro-Atlantic Partnership.
     * The Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council (EAPC) on the other hand was
       first established on 29 May 1997, and is a forum for regular
       coordination, consultation and dialogue between all 49
       participants.

   The 23 partner countries are the following:
     * Former Soviet republics:

         1. Flag of Armenia  Armenia
         2. Flag of Azerbaijan  Azerbaijan
         3. Flag of Belarus  Belarus
         4. Flag of Georgia (country)  Georgia
         5. Flag of Kazakhstan  Kazakhstan
         6. Flag of Kyrgyzstan  Kyrgyzstan
         7. Flag of Moldova  Moldova
         8. Flag of Russia  Russia
         9. Flag of Tajikistan  Tajikistan
        10. Flag of Turkmenistan  Turkmenistan
        11. Flag of Ukraine  Ukraine
        12. Flag of Uzbekistan  Uzbekistan

     * Countries that (though militarily neutral) possessed capitalist
       economies during the Cold War:

         1. Flag of Austria  Austria
         2. Flag of Finland  Finland
         3. Flag of Republic of Ireland  Republic of Ireland
         4. Flag of Sweden  Sweden
         5. Flag of Switzerland  Switzerland

     * Nations that (though militarily neutral) possessed socialist
       economies during the Cold War:

         1. Flag of Albania  Albania
         2. Flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina  Bosnia and Herzegovina
         3. Flag of Croatia  Croatia
         4. Flag of Montenegro  Montenegro
         5. Flag of Republic of Macedonia  Republic of Macedonia
         6. Flag of Serbia  Serbia

     * Flag of Malta  Malta joined PfP in 1994, but its new government
       withdrew in 1996. Because of this Malta is not participating in
       ESDP activities that use NATO assets and information.
     * Flag of Cyprus  Cyprus's admission to PfP is resisted by Turkey,
       because of the Northern Cyprus issue. Because of this Cyprus is not
       participating in ESDP activities that use NATO assets and
       information.

Individual Partnership Action Plans

   Launched at the November 2002 Prague Summit, Individual Partnership
   Action Plans (IPAPs) are open to countries that have the political will
   and ability to deepen their relationship with NATO.

   Currently IPAPs are in implementation with the following countries:
     * Flag of Azerbaijan  Azerbaijan ( 27 May 2005)
     * Flag of Armenia  Armenia ( 16 December 2005)
     * Flag of Kazakhstan  Kazakhstan ( 31 January 2006)
     * Flag of Moldova  Moldova ( 19 May 2006)

Intensified Dialogue

   Intensified Dialogue with NATO is viewed as a stage before being
   invited to enter the alliance Membership Action Plan (MAP), while the
   latter should eventually lead to NATO membership.

   Countries currently engaged in an Intensified Dialogue with NATO:
     * Flag of Ukraine  Ukraine ( 21 April 2005)
     * Flag of Georgia (country)  Georgia ( 21 September 2006)

Mediterranean Dialogue

   The Mediterranean Dialogue, first launched in 1994 is a forum of
   cooperation between NATO and seven countries of the Mediterranean:
     * Flag of Algeria  Algeria
     * Flag of Egypt  Egypt
     * Flag of Israel  Israel
     * Flag of Jordan  Jordan
     * Flag of Mauritania  Mauritania
     * Flag of Morocco  Morocco
     * Flag of Tunisia  Tunisia

   On 16 October 2006, NATO and Israel finalised the first ever Individual
   Cooperation Programme (ICP) under the enhanced Mediterranean Dialogue,
   where Israel will be contributing to the NATO maritime Operation Active
   Endeavour. The ICP covers many areas of common interest, such as the
   fight against terrorism and joint military exercises in the
   Mediterranean Sea.

NATO-Russian Federation Council

   NATO and Russian Federation made a reciprocal commitment in 1997 "to
   work together to build a stable, secure and undivided continent on the
   basis of partnership and common interest."

   In May 2002, this commitment was strengthened with the establishment of
   the NATO-Russia Council, which brings together the NATO members and
   Russia. The purpose of this council is to identify and pursue
   opportunities for joint action with the 27 participants as equal
   partners.

Other partners

   In April 2005, Australia, which had been appointed a US Major non-NATO
   ally (MNA) in 1999, signed a security agreement with NATO on enhancing
   intelligence co-operation in the fight against terrorism. Australia
   also posted a defence attache to NATO's headquarters. Cooperation with
   Japan (MNA, 1989), El Salvador, South Korea (MNA, 1989) and New Zealand
   (MNA, 1996) was also announced as priority. Israel (MNA, 1989) is
   currently a Mediterranean Dialogue country and has been recently
   seeking to expand its relationship with NATO. The first visit by a head
   of NATO to Israel occurred on 23 February - 24 February 2005 and the
   first joint Israel-NATO naval exercise occurred on 27 March 2005. In
   May of the same year Israel was admitted to the NATO Parliamentary
   Assembly. Israeli troops also took part in NATO exercises in June 2005.

   There have been advocates for the NATO membership of Israel, amongst
   them the former Prime Minister of Spain José María Aznar and Italian
   Defence Minister Antonio Martino. However Secretary-General of the
   organisation Jaap de Hoop Scheffer has dismissed such calls, saying
   that membership for Israel is not on the table. Martino himself said
   that a membership process could only come after an Israeli request;
   such a request has not taken place.

   Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom stated in February 2005 that his
   country was looking to upgrade its relationship with NATO from a
   dialogue to a partnership, but that it was not seeking membership,
   saying that "NATO members are committed to mutual defence and we don't
   think we are in a position where we can intervene in other struggles in
   the world", and also that "We don't see that NATO should get engaged in
   our conflict here in the Middle East."

   The issue of Israel's potential membership again came to the forefront
   in early 2006 after heightened tensions between Israel and Iran. Former
   Prime Minister of Spain José María Aznar argued that Israel should
   become a member of the organisation alongside Japan and Australia,
   saying that "So far, expansion of NATO was an attempt at the growth and
   consolidation of democratic change in the former communist countries.
   Now it is time to do the opposite, to expand toward those democratic
   nations that are committed to the struggle against our common enemy and
   ready to contribute to the common effort to free ourselves from it."

   Aznar also proposed a strategic co-operation with India and Colombia.

Structures

Political structure

   Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer meeting George W. Bush on March
   20, 2006
   Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer meeting George W. Bush on March
   20, 2006

   Like any alliance, NATO is ultimately governed by its 26 member states.
   However, the North Atlantic Treaty, and other agreements, outline how
   decisions are to be made within NATO. Each of the 26 members sends a
   delegation or mission to NATO’s headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. The
   senior permanent member of each delegation is known as the Permanent
   Representative and is generally a senior civil servant or an
   experienced ambassador (and holding that diplomatic rank).

   Together the Permanent Members form the North Atlantic Council (NAC), a
   body which meets together at least once a week and has effective
   political authority and powers of decision in NATO. From time to time
   the Council also meets at higher levels involving Foreign Ministers,
   Defence Ministers or Heads of Government and it is at these meetings
   that major decisions regarding NATO’s policies are generally taken.
   However, it is worth noting that the Council has the same authority and
   powers of decision-making, and its decisions have the same status and
   validity, at whatever level it meets.

   The meetings of the North Atlantic Council are chaired by the Secretary
   General of NATO and, when decisions have to be made, action is agreed
   upon on the basis of unanimity and common accord. There is no voting or
   decision by majority. Each nation represented at the Council table or
   on any of its subordinate committees retains complete sovereignty and
   responsibility for its own decisions.

   The second pivotal member of each country's delegation is the Military
   Representative, a senior officer from each country's armed forces.
   Together the Military Representatives form the Military Committee, a
   body responsible for recommending to NATO’s political authorities those
   measures considered necessary for the common defence of the NATO area.
   Its principal role is to provide direction and advice on military
   policy and strategy. It provides guidance on military matters to the
   NATO Strategic Commanders, whose representatives attend its meetings,
   and is responsible for the overall conduct of the military affairs of
   the Alliance under the authority of the Council. Like the council, from
   time to time the Military Committee also meets at a higher level,
   namely at the level of Chiefs of defence, the most senior military
   officer in each nation's armed forces.

   The NATO Parliamentary Assembly, presided by Pierre Lellouche, is made
   up of legislators from the member countries of the North Atlantic
   Alliance as well as 13 associate members. It is however officially a
   different structure from NATO, and has as aim to join together deputies
   of NATO countries in order to discuss security policies.

List of officials

   CAPTION: Secretaries General

   1 General Lord Ismay Flag of United Kingdom  United Kingdom 4 April
   1952 – 16 May 1957
   2 Paul-Henri Spaak Flag of Belgium  Belgium 16 May 1957 – 21 April 1961
   3 Dirk Stikker Flag of Netherlands  Netherlands 21 April 1961 – 1
   August 1964
   4 Manlio Brosio Flag of Italy  Italy 1 August 1964 – 1 October 1971
   5 Joseph Luns Flag of Netherlands  Netherlands 1 October 1971 – 25 June
   1984
   6 Lord Carrington Flag of United Kingdom  United Kingdom 25 June 1984 –
   1 July 1988
   7 Manfred Wörner Flag of West Germany   West Germany 1 July 1988 – 13
   August 1994
   8 Sergio Balanzino Flag of Italy  Italy 13 August 1994 – 17 October
   1994
   9 Willy Claes Flag of Belgium  Belgium 17 October 1994 – 20 October
   1995
   10 Sergio Balanzino Flag of Italy  Italy 20 October 1995 – 5 December
   1995
   11 Javier Solana Flag of Spain  Spain 5 December 1995 – 6 October 1999
   12 Lord Robertson of Port Ellen Flag of United Kingdom  United Kingdom
   14 October 1999 – 1 January 2004
   13 Jaap de Hoop Scheffer Flag of Netherlands  Netherlands 1 January
   2004 – present

   CAPTION: Deputy Secretary General of NATO

   #          Name                 Country           Duration
   1 Sergio Balanzino        Flag of Italy  Italy 1994 – 2001
   2 Alessandro Minuto Rizzo Flag of Italy  Italy 2001 – present

Military structure

   NATO E-3A flying with American F-16s in NATO exercise
   NATO E-3A flying with American F-16s in NATO exercise

   NATO’s military operations are directed by two Strategic Commanders,
   both senior U.S. officers assisted by a staff drawn from across NATO.
   The Strategic Commanders are responsible to the Military Committee for
   the overall direction and conduct of all Alliance military matters
   within their areas of command.

   Before 2003 the Strategic Commanders were the Supreme Allied Commander
   Europe (SACEUR) and the Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic (SACLANT) but
   the current arrangement is to separate command responsibility between
   Allied Command Transformation (ACT), responsible for transformation and
   training of NATO forces, and Allied Command Operations, responsible for
   NATO operations world wide.

   The commander of Allied Command Operations retained the title "Supreme
   Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR)", and is based in the Supreme
   Headquarters Allied Powers Europe ( SHAPE) located at Casteau, north of
   the Belgian city of Mons. This is about 80 km (50 miles) south of
   NATO’s political headquarters in Brussels. Allied Command
   Transformation (ACT) is based in the former Allied Command Atlantic
   headquarters in Norfolk, Virginia, USA.

List of supreme commanders

SACEUR

   The position as head of Allied Command Europe, since 2003 head of
   Allied Command Operations has been held by the following:
   Name Branch Term began Term ended
   1. General of the Army Dwight D. Eisenhower U.S. Army April 2, 1951 May
   30, 1952
   2. General Matthew Ridgway U.S. Army May 30, 1952 July 11, 1953
   3. General Alfred Gruenther U.S. Army July 1, 1953 November 20, 1956
   4. General Lauris Norstad U.S. Air Force November 20, 1956 January 1,
   1963
   5. General Lyman Lemnitzer U.S. Army January 1, 1963 July 1, 1969
   6. General Andrew Goodpaster U.S. Army July 1, 1969 December 15, 1974
   7. General Alexander Haig U.S. Army December 15, 1974 July 1, 1979
   8. General Bernard W. Rogers U.S. Army July 1, 1979 June 26, 1987
   9. General John Galvin U.S. Army June 26, 1987 June 23, 1992
   10. General John Shalikashvili U.S. Army June 23, 1992 October 22, 1993
   11. General George Joulwan U.S. Army October 22, 1993 July 11, 1997
   12. General Wesley Clark U.S. Army July 11, 1997 May 3, 2000
   13. General Joseph Ralston U.S. Air Force May 3, 2000 January 17, 2003
   14. General James L. Jones U.S. Marine Corps January 17, 2003 December
   7, 2006
   15. General John Craddock U.S. Army December 7, 2006

   Note: Starting with Ridgway, all SACEUR have also simultaneously been
   Commander-in-Chief, now simply Commander, United States European
   Command

NATO bases worldwide

   Map Of Major USAF bases in France before Charles de Gaulle's 1966
   withdrawal from NATO military integrated command.
   Map Of Major USAF bases in France before Charles de Gaulle's 1966
   withdrawal from NATO military integrated command.

   The NATO structure is divided into two commands, one for operations and
   one for transformation. Allied Command Operations (ACO), on one hand,
   is based at SHAPE (Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe), located
   at Casteau, north of Mons in Belgium. The ACO is headed by SACEUR, a
   U.S. four star general with the dual-hatted role of heading U.S.
   European Command, which is headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany. SHAPE
   was in Paris until 1966, when French president Charles de Gaulle
   withdrew French forces from the Atlantic Alliance. NATO's headquarters
   were then forced to move to Belgium, while many military units had to
   move. During a large-scale relocation plan, Operation Freloc, USAFE
   presence in the UK greatly increased.

   On the other hand, Allied Command Transformation (ACT) is located in
   Norfolk, Virginia, at the former headquarters of SACLANT (Supreme
   Allied Commander Atlantic, decommissionned in 2003) and headed by the
   Supreme Allied Commander Transformation (SACT), a U.S. flag (four star)
   admiral with the dual-hatted role as commander U.S. Joint Forces
   Command (COMUSJFCOM). It the ACT is co-located in the United States
   Joint Forces Command in Norfolk, Virginia, there is also an ACT command
   element located at SHAPE in Mons, Belgium. Additional command elements
   include the Joint Warfare Centre (JWC) located in Stavanger, Norway (in
   the same site as the Norwegian NJHQ); the Joint Force Training Centre
   (JFTC) in Bydgoszcz, Poland; the Joint Analysis and Lessons Learned
   Centre (JALLC) in Monsanto, Portugal; and the NATO Undersea Research
   Centre (NURC), La Spezia, Italy. These additional elements assist in
   ACT's transformation efforts. Under a customer-funded arrangement, ACT
   invests about 30 million Euros into research with the NATO
   Consultation, Command and Control Agency ( NC3A) each year to support
   scientific and experimental programs.

   The existence and ownership, or simple use via leasing, of military
   bases is subject to domestic and international changes in political
   context. Some bases used by allied countries members of NATO are not
   NATO bases, but may be national or joint bases. The US have bases
   scattered all over the world, which may sometimes be used by allies
   (i.e. Spanish Morón Air Base was used by NATO during the 1999 Kosovo
   War). Since the end of the Cold War, the US have closed many bases,
   implementing Base Realignment and Closure plans, the lattest being the
   2005 plan. However, others bases are opened, and readjustments always
   occurring (i.e. transfer of planes from the Spanish Torrejon Air Base
   to the Italian Aviano Air Base, etc.).

   Beginning in 1953 USAFE (US Air Forces in Europe) DOBs (NATO Dispersed
   Operating Bases) were constructed in France and were completed in about
   two years. Each was built to a standard NATO design of a 7,900' runway.
   Four DOBs were built for USAFE use. They were designed to have the
   capability to base about 30 aircraft, along with a few permanent
   buildings serviced with utilities and space for a tent city to house
   personnel. Between 1950 and 1967, when all NATO forces had to withdraw
   from France, the USAFE operated ten major air bases in France.

Bases in Germany

   The USAFE (United States Air Forces in Europe)'s headquarters are
   located in Ramstein Air Base (West Germany), after having been
   relocated from Wiesbaden Army Airfield in 1973. The Sembach Air Base,
   used by NATO during the Cold War, was returned to German control and
   became an annex of Rammstein Air Base in 1995. Germany also hosts the
   Campbell Barracks in Heidelberg, Germany, which is the location of the
   Headquarters of the US Army in Europe and Seventh Army (HQ USAREUR,
   /7A, as well as V Corps and the headquarters of NATO’s Allied Land
   Forces Central Europe ( LANDCENT). The Kaiserslautern Military
   Community is the largest US military community outside of the US, while
   the Landstuhl Regional Medical Centre is the largest US military
   hospital oversea, treating wounded soldiers from Iraq or Afghanistan.
   Furthermore, Patch Barracks is home to the US European Command (EUCOM)
   and is the headquarters for US armed forces in Europe. It is also the
   centre for the Special Operations Command, Europe (SOCEUR), which
   commands all US special forces units in Europe. NATO also operates a
   fleet of E-3A Sentry AWACS airborne radar aircraft based at
   Geilenkirchen Air Base in Germany, and is establishing the NATO
   Strategic Airlift Capability through the planned purchase of a number
   of C-17s.

Bases in Italy

   NATO's Naval Forces' headquarters will be relocated from London to
   Napoli (Italy), where NATO's Joint Force Command (headed by a US
   general) is also based. The Naval Air Station Sigonella, in Sicily, is
   one of the most frequently used stops for U.S. airlifters bound from
   the continental United States to Southwest Asia and the Indian Ocean.
   In the nort-east of Italy, Aviano Air Base (used for the Imam Rapito
   extraordinary rendition case) is the HQ of the 31st Fighter Wing which
   conducts and supports air operations in Europe's southern region and to
   maintain munitions for the NATO and national authorities. Aviano Air
   Base was brought into NATO after a 1954 US-Italian agreement, and
   received F-16 planes from Torrejon Air Base after its closure in the
   1990s. San Vito dei Normanni Air Station, also used as a US naval base,
   hosted a FLR-9 receiving system for COMINT intelligence purposes from
   1964 to 1994. It hosts now the 691th Electronic Security Group and
   other assigned U.S. and NATO units. NATO also inaugurated a new base in
   2004 in Chiapparo nel Mar Grande ( Taranto) The enlargement of the
   Caserma Ederle in Vicenza, previsioned for 2007 and accepted by Silvio
   Berlusconi's government, suscited some opposition from Romano Prodi's
   government, although it finally accepted the relocation. Between 40,000
   to 100,000 Italians marched against this extension project on 17
   February, 2007

Bases in Spain

   Torrejon Air Base, near Madrid in Spain, was the headquarters of the
   United States Air Forces in Europe (USAFE) Sixteenth Air Force as well
   as the 401st Tactical Fighter Wing. However, under popular discontent
   in particular from the PSOE and the PCE, an agreement was reached in
   1988 to reduce US military presence in Spain. Henceforth, aircraft
   (mostly F-16) based at Torrejon were rotated to other USAFE airbases at
   Aviano Air Base, Italy, and at Incirlik AB, Turkey. Torrejon was, in
   addition, a staging, reinforcement, and logistical airlift base. The
   USAFE completely withdrew its forces on 21 May 1992.

   Morón Air Base, near Seville, became in 1992 the home of the US 92d Air
   Refueling Wing, which was tasked with providing fuel to NATO forces
   during the 1999 bombing of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Morón
   Air Base was the largest tanker base during the Kosovo War

   As of 2007, Zaragossa is expected to host the new Alliance Ground
   Surveillance (AGS) system of NATO, produced by the Transatlantic
   Industrial Proposed Solution (TIPS) consortium with the goal of having
   an initial operational capability in 2010. As in Italy, this has been
   met with some opposition from various anti-militarist sectors of
   Spanish society.

Others

   The SHAPE Technical Centre (STC) in The Hague (Netherlands) merged in
   1996 with the NATO Communications and Information Systems Agency
   (NACISA) based in Brussels (Belgium), forming the NATO Consultation,
   Command and Control Agency (NC3A). The agency comprises around 650
   staff, of which around 400 are located in The Hague and 250 in
   Brussels. It reports to the NATO Consultation, Command and Control
   Board (NC3B).

   NATO's Joint Force Command Brunssum (Netherlands) houses members of the
   central European NATO countries, but includes the US armed forces,
   Canadian forces, British, German, Belgian and Dutch personnel.

   In the Portuguese territory of the Azores, the Lajes Field provides
   support to 3,000 aircraft including fighters from the US and 20 other
   allied nations each year. The geographic position has made this airbase
   strategically important to both American and NATO's warfighting
   capability. Beginning in 1997, large fighter aircraft movements called
   Air Expeditionary Forces filled the Lajes flightline. Lajes also has
   hosted B-52 and B-1 bomber aircraft on global air missions. Lajes also
   supports many routine NATO exercises, such as the biennial Northern
   Viking exercise.

   In Netherlands the Soesterberg Air Base, used by the USAFE, was closed
   after the Cold War, and the 298 and 300 300 Squadron are to be moved to
   Gilze-Rijen Air Base. The Leeuwarden Air Base is the home of the annual
   NATO exercice "Frisian Flag".

   US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has signed the Defense
   Cooperation Agreement with Sofia (Bulgaria), a new NATO member, in
   2006. The treaty allows the US (not NATO) to develop as joint
   US-Bulgarian facilities the Bulgarian air bases at Bezmer (near Yambol)
   and Graf Ignatievo (near Plovdiv), the Novo Selo training range (near
   Sliven), and a logistics centre in Aytos, as well as to use the
   commercial port of Burgas. At least 2,500 US personnel will be located
   there. The treaty also allows the US to use the bases "for missions in
   tiers country without a specific authorization from Bulgarian
   authorities," and grants US militaries immunity from prosecution in
   this country. Another agreement with Romania permits the US to use the
   Mihail Kogălniceanu base and another one nearby.

   Various military bases are used in Turkey, including the Incirlik Air
   Base, near Adana, and İzmir Air Base. The US 39th Air Base Wing,
   located at Incirlik since 1966, recently took part in Operation
   Northern Watch, a US European Command Combined Task Force (CTF) charged
   with enforcing its own no-fly zone above the 36th parallel in Iraq,
   which started in January 1997. It also took part in the 2001 invasion
   of Aghanistan and in the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

   In Kosovo, Camp Bondsteel serves as the NATO headquarters for KFOR's
   Multinational Task Force East (MNTF-E). Camp Monteith has also been
   used by the KFOR.

   Camp Arifjan, a US Army base in Kuweit, has hosted various soldiers
   from allied countries. Manas Air Base in Kyrgyzstan, owned by the US
   Air Force, has also been used by the French Air Force and the Royal
   Australian Air Force during (non-NATO) Operation Enduring Freedom in
   Afghanistan. Although NATO was not initially engaged in Afghanistan, it
   has since deployed the ISAF force, which took control of the country in
   October 2006.

   Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev, who succeeded to Askar Akayev after
   the 2005 Tulip Revolution, threatened in April 2006 to expel U.S.
   troops from the base if the United States didn't agree by June 1 to pay
   more for stationing forces in the Central Asian nation. However, he
   finally withdrew this threat, but the U.S. and Kyrgyzstan have yet to
   agree to new terms for the military base. Beside the US and NATO,
   others global powers such as Russia and China are trying to acquire
   bases in Central Asia, in a struggle dubbed the " New Great Game."
   Thus, President of Uzbekistan Islom Karimov ordered the US to leave the
   Karshi-Khanabad which was vacated in January 2006.

   In Djibouti, NATO owns no bases, but both France and the US (since
   2002) are present, with the 13th Foreign Legion Demi-Brigade sharing
   Camp Lemonier with the Combined Joint Task Force Horn of Africa
   (CJTF-HOA) of the United States Central Command. It is from Djibouti
   that Abu Ali al-Harithi, suspected mastermind of the 2000 USS Cole
   bombing, and US citizen Ahmed Hijazi, along with four others persons,
   were assassinated in 2002 while riding a car in Yemen, by a Hellfire
   missile sent by a RQ-1 Predator drone actionned from CIA headquarters
   in Langley, Virginia. It is also from there that the US Army launched
   attacks in 2007 against Islamic forces in Somalia.

   As NATO does not share a common intelligence interception system, each
   country develops its installations on its own. However,
   English-speaking countries members of the UKUSA Community have joined
   in the ECHELON program, which has bases scattered around the world.
   France allegedly has developed its own interception system, nicknamed "
   Frenchelon," as did Switzerland with the Onyx interception system
   (which recently gave the proof of the existence of CIA-operated black
   sites in Europe).

Research and Technology (R&T) at NATO

   NATO currently possesses three Research and Technology (R&T)
   organisations:
     * NATO Undersea Research Centre (NURC), reporting directly to the
       Supreme Allied Command Transformation;
     * Research and Technology Agency (RTA), reporting to the Research and
       Technology Organisation (RTO);
     * NATO Consultation, Command and Control Agency (NC3A), reporting to
       the NATO Consultation, Command and Control Organisation (NC3O).
     * NATO ACCS Management Agency (NACMA), based in Brussels, manages
       around a hundred persons in charge of the Air Control and Command
       System (ACCS) due for 2009.

List of NATO operations

   During the Cold War:
     * Operation Gladio

   In Yugoslav Wars (1991–2001):
     * Operation Sharp Guard (June 1993–October 1996)
     * Operation Deliberate Force ( August - September 1995)
     * Operation Joint Endeavour (December 1995)
     * Operation Allied Force (March - June 1999)
     * Operation Essential Harvest (August - September 2001)

   Other:
     * Baltic Air Policing (since March 2004)

     * International Security Assistance Force

   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NATO"
   This reference article is mainly selected from the English Wikipedia
   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
   of authors and sources) and is available under the GNU Free
   Documentation License. See also our Disclaimer.
