North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
Context: NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte urged a 400% boost in air and missile defences and proposed members spend 3.5% of GDP on the military and 1.5% on defence-related infrastructure to counter rising threats from Russia.
Important Pointers:
Genesis: NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) was founded in 1949 with the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty (also known as the Washington Treaty) to deter Soviet expansion post-World War II.
Headquarters: Located in Brussels, Belgium.
Nature: A political and military alliance of 32 countries from Europe and North America.
Core Principle: Based on collective defence (Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty) – an attack on one is considered an attack on all.
Article 5 Invoked: Invoked only once, in response to the September 11, 2001 (9/11) terrorist attacks in the United States of America (USA).
Founding Members (12): Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, the United Kingdom (UK), and the United States of America (USA).
Latest Member: Finland joined NATO in 2023.
EU Non-NATO Members: Countries in the European Union (EU) that are not part of NATO include Austria, Cyprus, Ireland, and Malta.
Purpose: Acts as a transatlantic link enabling Europe and North America to consult and cooperate on defence and security and conduct multinational crisis-management operations.
Funding: Each NATO member contributes based on a cost-sharing formula derived from Gross National Income (GNI).