NORTH ATLANTIC TREATY ORGANIZATION

North Atlantic Treaty Organization: translation

(NATO)

Established on 4 April 1949, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is a collective security arrangement backed by theUnited Statesand its allies. Its principal function is to provide mutual defense if any member state is attacked by a third party. The treaty is a vestige of theCold War, and was originally established to protectCanada, Iceland,Norway, Portugal, Italy,France, Denmark,Great Britain, and the Benelux countries from Soviet invasion; in 1952, Greece andTurkeyjoined. After WestGermanywas admitted in 1955, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) created theWarsaw Pactto provide common defense against any potential offensive action by NATO.

After the breakup of theEastern Blocin 1989, a number of former Soviet allies moved toward joining the union, beginning with East Germany in 1990. The Russian Federation and many members of theCommonwealth of Independent Statesjoined NATO’sPartnership for Peaceprogram during the 1990s in an effort to reduce the threat of military confrontation in northernEurasia.Poland, the Czech Republic, and Hungary were admitted in 1999, and plans were announced around the same time for the inclusion of theBaltic Statesinto the group.BorisYeltsin’s government, which had been growing increasingly anti-American after the perceived failure of its early 1990sAtlanticistorientation, condemned the new direction of the organization as inherently hostile to Russia and its interests. Disputes between NATO and the Kremlin during the breakup of Yugoslavia— particularly the NATO bombing campaign againstSerbiain 1999—further hampered relations.

However, in 2002, the NATO-Russia Council (NRC) was established to provide an opportunity for cooperation and partnership between the 28 members of the treaty and the Russian Federation. The NRC builds on bilateral ties established by the 1997 NATO-Russia Founding Act.Vladimir Putin, who had established closer relations with the U.S. and NATO, particularly oncounterterrorism, in the wake of theSeptember 11 attacks, reluctantly acceded to the admission ofEstonia,Latvia, andLithuaniain 2004, alongside the other post-Communist states of Slovenia, Slovakia, Romania, and Bulgaria. However, during the second Putin administration, relations with NATO cooled over the U.S. plan to incorporate two members of the Commonwealth of Independent States,GeorgiaandUkraine, into the organization.

The crisis reached its peak during the 2008South Ossetian Warwhen Russia condemned the deployment of NATO vessels in theBlack Sea. Relations were strained during the waning days ofGeorge W. Bush’s administration over the issue of missile defense sites in Poland and the Czech Republic in response to veiled threats from Russia against these states. In 2008, the North Atlantic Council, the highest governing body within NATO, criticizedDmitryMedvyedev’s recognition of the breakaway republics ofSouth OssetiaandAbkhaziaas a violation of Georgia’s territorial integrity and dangerous to the stability of theCaucasus. In March 2008, NATO - Russian relations were normalized after more than six months of heated exchanges, despite the Kremlin’s obdurate position against Ukrainian or Georgian admission to the treaty. The rapprochement was short-lived, however, as NATO announced its plans to expel two Russian diplomats from its Brussels headquarters due to suspicion ofespionage. Russia’s envoy to NATO,Dmitry Rogozin, promised retaliatory actions to the “provocation.”