EXPANSION OF NATO (Syllabus: GS Paper 2 – IR)

Context: Turkey's parliament ratifies Sweden's NATO membership bid, clearing the biggest remaining hurdle to expanding the Western military alliance.

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)

• About: NATO is an Intergovernmental political & military alliance based on the North Atlantic Treaty signed in 1949.
• Headquarter: Brussels, Belgium
• Objective: Formed to ensure collective security in Western Europe and in response to deteriorating relations between the US and the USSR after World War II (cold war period).
• Members: 31 countries 
• Article 10: It sets out how countries can join the Alliance. It states that membership is open to any "European State in a position to further the principles of this Treaty and to contribute to the security of the North Atlantic area".
• Collective Defence: Attack against one or several of its members is considered as an attack against all. 
• Political: NATO promotes democratic values and enables members to consult and cooperate on defence and security-related issues to solve problems, build trust and, in the long run, prevent conflict.
• Military: NATO is committed to the peaceful resolution of disputes. If diplomatic efforts fail, it has the military power to undertake crisis-management operations.
• Sweden: It is one of five members of the European Union that are not members of NATO. 

o     Sweden joined the Partnership for Peace on 9 May 1994.

• Finland: which has a 1,340km (832 mile) land border with Russia - became a Nato member in April 2023.