The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is a military alliance established by the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty on 04 April 1949. The NATO headquarters are in Brussels, Belgium, and the organization constitutes a system of collective defence whereby its member states agree to mutual defence in response to an attack by any external party. The first NATO Secretary General was the late Lord Ismay (1887-1965) who was, incidentally, born in India.

For its first few years, NATO was not much more than a political association. However, the Korean War galvanized the member states, and an integrated military structure was built up under the direction of two US supreme commanders. Doubts over the strength of the relationship between the European states and the United States ebbed and flowed, along with doubts over the credibility of the NATO defence against a prospective Soviet invasion - doubts that led to the development of the independent French nuclear deterrent and the withdrawal of the French from NATO’s military structure from 1966.

After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the organization became drawn into the Balkans while building better links with former potential enemies to the east, which culminated with several former Warsaw Pact states joining the alliance in 1999 and 2004. On April 1, 2009, membership was enlarged to 28 with the entrance of Albania and Croatia. Since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, NATO has attempted to refocus itself to new challenges and has deployed troops to Afghanistan as well as trainers to Iraq.

On 04 April 2009, the Diamond Anniversary, NATO was comprised of 28 member countries (See Box).

NATO@60

A Summit of Heads of State and Government marking the NATO 60th Anniversary was held on 3–4 April 2009 in Baden-Baden and Kehl, Germany, and in Strasbourg, France. The meetings were chaired by the Secretary General, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, and were hosted by the President Nicolas Sarkozy of France and the Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany.

Albania and Croatia Welcomed

As the Summit began, Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer welcomed the Heads of State and Government of Albania and Croatia at their first NATO Summit as members of the Alliance. “I would like to extend a special word of welcome to President Topi and Prime Minister Berisha of Albania, as well as President Mesic and Prime Minister Sanader of Croatia”, the Secretary General said. “Today we celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Washington Treaty. From twelve initial members in 1949, the transatlantic family has grown to twenty-eight. The presence of Albania and Croatia here today confirms that NATO’s door remains open, and is testimony of our commitment to a Europe whole and free”.

5000 More Troops for Afghanistan

One of the most significant items to come out of the Summit was a commitment to send 5000 more troops to Afghanistan to provide security during the forthcoming election period. President Barack Obama stated that he was satisfied with the 5000 offered, while pointing out that he saw the offers as only a “down payment”, indicating he still wanted pledges of long-term troop deployments, not just temporary units for the election force. There were, however, no offers of extra troops on a permanent basis.

New Secretary-General

As the Summit closed on Saturday 04 April, current Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer named Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the Danish Prime Minister, as his replacement, despite concerns expressed by Turkey. Fogh said, “I look very much forward to continuing the good job done by Secretary-General Scheffer in the transformation of NATO to manage the new challenges of the 21st century.” Concerns from Turkey over the selection of the new Secretary General stemmed from the fact that in 2006, Fogh Rasmussen defended cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad that appeared in a Danish publication.