There are over 300
intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) in the world. Comprised of member states
the goals of IGOs vary from healthcare, global warming, human rights, mutual
defense, and peacekeeping. The premise of IGOs is an effective approach toward
multilateral global politics, with states working as one to reach a mutual
goal, in other terms a Liberal approach to international policy. The idealistic
effective IGO is one by which member nations put aside their own nationalist
interest and collaborate with other member nations in a way that benefits all.
The
North Atlantic Treaty Organization, or more commonly known as NATO, was created
in 1949 after the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty in Washington, DC. NATO
was created in response the Soviet Union consolidating much of what is known as
the Eastern Bloc, border countries in Eastern Europe that border Russia, in
order to create a mutual defense against any further Soviet aggression against
member states, essentially Western Europe and North America. While much of NATO’s
history is predicated on the Cold War the organization continues to operate to
this day and has been involved in conflicts such as the war in Afghanistan,
Bosnia in the 1990’s, Kosovo, and today engages in training missions for the
Iraqi army in Iraq. NATO is also known by its French designation, the
traditional OTAN, Organisation du Traité de l'Atlantique Nord, due to French
being the traditional language in which diplomacy is often engaged in and which
is oddly enough is NATO spelled backwards.
NATO
is essentially an alliance between North Atlantic nations that ensures mutual
defense, as stated by article 5 of the Washington treaty. While article 5 has
only been invoked once, in Afghanistan after the 9/11 attacks in 2001, NATO
often engages in interventions, euphemistically referred to as crisis-management,
to help ensure stability on the European continent. There are 28 members of
NATO today, Albania, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic,
Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania,
Luxemburg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Slovakia, Spain,
Turkey, The United Kingdom, and the United States of America.
NATO is an
example of multilateral diplomacy, member nations consult with each other
before making a decision that may affect one or more of its members. The benefits
of multilateral diplomacy include transparency, defusing tensions between
member nations, as well as limiting the conflicting and secretive treaties
between other nations. Yet according to realist diplomacy multilateral
diplomacy can stifle a nation’s own security and bring them into conflicts that
they are unwilling to engage in themselves, France exemplified this attitude in
its three decade absence from NATO starting in the 1950’s. Member nations make
decisions on security issues through a consensus, “Consensus decision-making
means that there is no voting at NATO. Consultations take place until a
decision that is acceptable to all is reached… In general, this negotiation
process is rapid since members consult each other on a regular basis and
therefore often know and understand each other's positions in advance.” (http://www.nato.int/cps/en/natolive/topics_49178.htm)
According to
the NATO website, “NATO’s essential purpose is to safeguard the freedom and
security of its members through political and military means.” (http://www.nato.int/nato-welcome/index.html).
NATO’s goals are predicated on the Democratic Peace theory that maintains that
Democracy seldom go to war together, by helping other nations, developing or
former third world, to become Democracies NATO is ensure global stability
according to the theory. NATO is a peacekeeping organization, its intent is to
deter war through collective security.
One example of NATO’s purpose in bolstering
Democracy in the world is its training missions in Iraq. Since the Iraq War the
nation has struggled to rebuild itself and has often fallen prey to aggressive
sectarianism, the resulting factionalism of failed states, that has caused
continued conflict in the region. The purpose of NATO’s training missions in
Iraq is the equip the Iraqi Army with the means to address threats on its own
without the help of the United States or other member nations, which in turn will
create an allied democracy in the Middle East.
While NATO is a
collective of Western nations along the Atlantic it often times works with
other nations in the Atlantic, Mediterranean, and Gulf regions. The
organization uses partnerships to help build international security. NATO
assists partner nations with all manners of defense building, from military
training, to government policy, infrastructure, and other educational and
consultative methods. This practice of creating partnerships borrows from the
more liberal tradition of global politics, that helping other nations address
security concerns and human rights is more beneficial than merely attending to
national interests. NATO’s expanding presence as a security force outside of
the Atlantic continues to grow, just recently NATO held one of its largest
summit in history.
NATO’s future
goals have been recently outlined in a Summit held between the nation countries
as well as representatives from the EU, which had just seen the exit of the
United Kingdom, as well as the World Bank in Warsaw. NATO and EU cooperation
was solidified in the two day summit, “The hope is that working together and
combining the EU’s soft power with NATO’s hard power will make both
organizations better at addressing hybrid threats”( http://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/trend-lines/19368/nato-summit-puts-eu-s-security-ambitions-back-in-the-spotlight).
Oddly enough concerns over Russia, with its recent aggression in the Ukraine as
well as involvement in Syria, continues to be a concern much as the nation was
when it was known as the Soviet Union. NATO forces are also addressing the
refugee crisis as well as placing battalions in the Baltic.
NATO uses hard
power to accomplish security goals, it is an organization based upon defense.
The future of NATO remains to be seen but the organization has been playing
more prominent roles in developing the security of developing and failed states
as well as cooperating with other IGOs to increase security. NATO is perhaps as
strong as it has ever been.
Bibliography:
http://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/trend-lines/19368/nato-summit-puts-eu-s-security-ambitions-back-in-the-spotlight
10 Questions:
1.NATO spelled backwards stands
for?
2. How many member nations are
there in NATO?
3. NATO uses this type of power
in its diplomacy:
4. How is NATO active today?
5. The North Atlantic Treaty was
signed to check aggression by what state?
6. Which of these nations are
not in NATO
a.
Slovakia
b.
Turkey
c.
France
e.
Great Britain
f.
Cyprus
g.
Latvia
h.
Switzerland
i.
Norway
7. What is the purpose of
article 5 in the North Atlantic Treaty?
8. How many times has article 5
of the North Atlantic Treaty been enacted?
9. What are some of the outcomes
of the recent NATO summit?
10. Is NATO an IGO?
