The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), also called the Washington Treaty, was founded on April 4, 1949. NATO is a political and military alliance whose members aim at jointly defending the member nations from a potential political threat or Soviet war. Communism is seen as a threat to democracy and induvial freedom.
NATO’s constitution is established on the Atlanticism ideology that is based on the federal union of the liberal-democratic countries of Western Europe guided by the United States for a common foreign policy action.
The entrance of a new member in the Atlantic Alliance is a natural and suitable choice in order to limit the communism threat. However, this choice leads to lively debates between the pro-Atlantic liberal parties and the left-wing anti-Atlantic parties.
The countries do not argue on the fact that the United Stated of America guide the North Atlantic Treaty since they represent a model of society to be achieved, in which the economic and scientific-technological modernization was joined with the maximum level of individual freedom and expansion of political rights within certain legal rules.
Analyzing Italy’s case, joining NATO means leaving that condition of isolationism due to foreign policies: Fascism and Nazism. According to President Truman, Italy has always been an incoherent and disloyal country regarding the Allies, in fact, both in World War I and World War II, Italy had changed its alliance and had not fulfilled the established agreements.
However, Truman was aware of the fact that by excluding Italy it would had compromised the relationship between the United States and Paris (Italy was drafting a trade treaty with France) by highlighting the rift between Western
powers. Due to this, the Italian Communist Party was as strong as the Soviet one and thanks to its geographical position, Italy joined NATO.
I.1 NATO: the universal principals that must be shared.
NATO is regulated by the Atlantic Treaty that is divided into 14 articles drafted in English and French. The articles are based on the desire to ensure the protection of its citizens and governments promoting military and political cooperation in the North Atlantic area.
NATO Allies aim at “settling any international dispute in which they may be involved by peaceful means” (article 1) and to develop “friendly international relations”, that have as an objective to “strengthen their free institutions, by bringing about a better understanding of the principles upon which these institutions are founded, and by promoting conditions of stability and well-being”
(article 2). The nature of the alliance is defensive and in the event of an armed intervention, the use of all military, land, air and sea forces is authorized (article 5).
The Security Council is the supreme body of the Alliance that adopts the necessary strategies in order to maintain peace and security among the nations (article 7) and avails itself of the assistance of subsidiary bodies including the Committee on Defense.
The Treaty underlines that only if a member country is attacked, armed defense with the use of weapons is authorized but it if forbidden to enter into any international engagement in conflict with this Treaty (article 8). An eventual armed attack is considered admissible “on the forces, vessels, or aircraft” observing the geographical borders (article 6). Articles 3 and 4 establish that the countries are authorized to take individual or collective action against an armed conflict after consultations with all the NATO members in order to prevent a thoughtless auto initiative.
The Treaty has been in force for twenty years (article 13) and there are no limits regarding the number of participants, all States can adhere and individual nations can extend the invitation to join the Atlantic Alliance to other nations since the principle of collective defense and security is universal. The members must respect the objectives and principles of the Charter of the United Nations (UN).
I.2 The importance of Article 5
Article 5 is the most important article of the Atlantic Treaty and it states that:
The Parties agree that an armed attack against one or more of them […] shall be considered an attack against them all and […] each of them […] will assist the Party or Parties so attacked by taking forthwith […] such action as it deems necessary, including the use of armed force, to restore and maintain international peace and security.
NATO has been existing for 70 years (1949-2019) but article 5 has been invoked for the very first time in history after the attack in the United States of America on the Twin Towers on September 11, 2001. The 2010 Strategic Concept has been adopted by the Alliance after this tragic event. The document integrates the defensive and mutual support aspect.
The Alliance must and will continue fulfilling effectively three essential core tasks, all of which contribute to safeguarding the members of the Alliance in accordance with international law:
- Collective defense;
- Crisis management - Cooperative security.
I.3 NATO’s member countries
NATO has 29 allied members, among these, 12 counties have founded the organization (Italy, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Island, Luxemburg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Great Britain and the United States), further
counties joined in a later time (Greece, Turkey, Germany, Spain, Czech Republic, Hungry, Poland, Bulgaria, Estonian, Latvia, Lithuania, Romanian, Slovakia, Slovenian, Albania, Croatia, Montenegro).
NATO members identify with the symbol on the 1953 flag: the blue color symbolizes the Atlantic Ocean that combines the United States of America with the Allies of Western Europe; the white compass rose emblem with four white lines radiating from the four cardinal directions represent NATO’s will to find the path of peace; the circle stands for unity among NATO member states and the desire to support each other whenever an external attack occurs.
The Alliance’s main principal is the motto written on the military emblem:
Vigilia Pretium Libertatis. This Latin expression means that Vigilance is the Pride of Liberty. The member of the Irish Parliament John Philpot Curran was a supporter of this quotation in 1790.
I.4 The NATO Secretary General
The NATO Secretary General is the Alliance's top international civil servant.
This person is responsible for steering the process of consultation and decision-making in the Alliance by ensuring that decisions are implemented providing consultations, guidance and administrative assistance to national delegations at NATO’s headquarters. NATO’s current Secretary General is Norwegian Jens Stoltenberg who is also the leader of the North Atlantic Council (NAC). The Council normally meets once a week or more when it is necessary to take military decisions.
Decisions are taken unanimously, i.e. all 29 members agree.
In the North Atlantic Council there is the Military Committee (made up of NATO’s Chiefs of Defense), the Allied Command Operations and the Allied Command for the Transformation.