How effective is Nato?

The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (abbreviated NATO) is a military alliance of thirty
North American and European countries. It’s armed forces are the national forces. The aim is
to preserve the freedom and security of it’s member states by political and military means.
The defensive military alliance was founded on April 4, 1949 in Washington amid the Cold
War arms race. Today, NATO is already carrying out peacekeeping missions beyond its
member countries' borders.1
NATO had twelve founding members in 1949: Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland,
Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, the United Kingdom and the United
States. The Member States that joined later are Greece and Turkey (1952), Germany (1955),
Spain (1982), Hungary, Czech Republic and Poland (1999), Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia,
Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia (2004), Albania and Croatia (2009), Montenegro
(2017) and North Macedonia (2020). Currently, thirty countries are part of the organization,
so Finland and Sweden would expand the alliance to 32 members. This is worth knowing
because the main reason for the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian war was that Kiev wanted
to join NATO.
Nato's successes:
The Cold War: During the Cold War, NATO’s efforts were centered around three goals:
controlling the Soviet Union, dissuading militant nationalism and communism across Europe,
and establishing greater European political unity. The alliance played a major role in
maintaining the tense peace of the Cold War and ensuring the war remained ‘cold’. With the
end of the war, NATO worked to further maintain peace. They established the North Atlantic
Cooperation Council and, in 1997, NATO encouraged bilateral discussion between the United
States and Russia through the Founding Act.
Modern Day Protection: Today, NATO continues to provide a level of protection for its
members. Since its founding, a NATO member has only been attacked and evoked Article 5
once (the United States after 9/11). Member countries are afforded collective security, just as
NATO originally sought to do. Additionally, NATO has created a global network of more
than 40 countries and partners around the globe—ranging from the African Union to the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). This network provides NATO
support in its crisis management operations, ranging from aid operations such as its delivery
of relief supplies after the 2005 Kashmir Earthquake to counter-terrorism operations in the
Mediterranean and the coast of Somalia.
The Ukraine War: NATO has publicly denounced the Russian invasion of Ukraine and NATO
member countries and allies have provided substantial aid to Ukraine. The United States has
contributed roughly $54 billions to Ukraine. Other countries have provided humanitarian aid
and support for the more than 5 millions refugees of the war. The Ukraine war has reaffirmed
the importance of NATO, and even spurred Finland and Sweden to increase their efforts to
join the alliance. These countries’ membership would strengthen the alliance militarily

1
Mi az a NATO, miért hozták létre, és hogyan alakul át az orosz–ukrán háború miatt? (vg.hu)
through increased air and submarine capabilities, allowing for NATO to further dissuade
Russian aggression.
The Nato’s failures:
Funding Issues: In 2006 NATO Defense Ministers agreed to a commitment that 2% of their
countries’ GDP would be allocated towards defense spending. However, the majority of
NATO members do not meet this goal. Currently, the United States accounts for over two-
thirds of the alliance’s defense spending.
Afghanistan: After 9/11, NATO was a considerable presence in Afghanistan, and their forces
were crucial in their support of the Afghan government. When President Donald Trump
signed an agreement with the Taliban in 2020, both NATO and American troops were
withdrawn from Afghanistan. What followed was an immediate fall in the Afghan government
at the hands of the Taliban. Despite the two decades NATO spent in Afghanistan, no long term
solution was reached, and without their presence, the nation’s former government could not
survive.
Right-Wing Nationalism: With the spread of right-wing nationalism across Europe, discontent
with international institutions like NATO and the EU grows. If right-wing nationalist
movements continue to increase in popularity across Europe, there could be increased calls
for countries to leave institutions like NATO. The challenge NATO faces now is how to
combat and address their criticism, and how to unify a divided Europe.
Russian Aggression: Despite supposed verbal promises to Russia that it would not expand to
the east, NATO has admitted several former Warsaw Pact members since the fall of the Soviet
Union. Now, with NATO members bordering Russia and the promise of further expansion,
Russia feels increasingly threatened. The possibility of Ukraine joining NATO has been cited
as a significant reason for Vladmir Putin’s invasion of the country.2
Like most Western countries, NATO's Secretary General has condemned the annexation of
four Ukrainian regions to Russia, making it unlikely that annexation will accelerate Ukraine's
entry into the military alliance. This would lead to an even harsher war and would also benefit
Vladimir Putin, who proclaims in his propaganda that NATO is threatening Russia.
Under Article 5 of NATO's Collective Defence Agreement, if one member state is attacked,
the others must consider it an attack on themselves and come to the aid of their ally. This
means that if Ukraine were to join NATO while still at war with Russia, Article 5 would be
triggered.
"There are escalatory risks to Ukraine's membership," said John Williams, a professor of
international politics, war and sovereignty at Durham University, who warned that it could
lead to a nightmarish scenario.
"NATO would get into the war in a much more direct way, which means that member states
bordering Russia, such as the Baltic states and Poland, could potentially be on the front line." 3
Interestingly, Ukraine does not need NATO membership. Because NATO is already
committed to Ukraine. In addition to tens of billions of euros in military and financial aid

2
Failures And Successes Of NATO | ACE (ace-usa.org)
3
5 ok, amiért Ukrajna nem csatlakozik a NATO-hoz egyhamar | Euronews
provided by individual member states, the alliance itself is providing huge support to Ukraine,
coordinating the delivery of humanitarian aid.
Before joining NATO, countries must comply with certain economic, political and military
standards. As it stands, Ukraine does not meet this in all respects.
According to NATO rules, new members can only be admitted if all 30 members agree. If a
member disagrees, it can obstruct – or even derail – the whole process. Hungary could also
cause problems with Ukraine's membership application. The two countries have a long-
standing dispute over the rights of the Hungarian-speaking minority in Ukraine. Since 2017,
when Ukraine made Ukrainian compulsory in primary schools, Hungary has repeatedly
blocked Ukraine's attempts to integrate into both NATO and the EU.
It is important for NATO to realise that the world does not revolve solely around the Euro-
Atlantic region. It needs to address issues related to its role outside the region and worldwide.
NATO remains important not only for the security of its members, including the United
States, but also for the security of the world.
In my opinion, NATO as an organisation is useful. But in the conflict described in this
example, NATO's assistance is more than it should be. In my opinion, it is as if the EU and, of
course, America are pulling the lion's moustache. This is not to say that I agree with Russia's
killing, but Ukraine's attitude is equally reprehensible.