North Atlantic Treaty Organization - WORKSHEET

Answer the following questions in your own words. Submit your work on Canvas when
you are done and don’t forget to save this worksheet on your own drive as well.

This assignment is graded.

Here are some resources get you going:

● https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snXhtOpSXtI&t=1s
● https://www.nato.int/ (the ‘about us’ page is probably most useful)
● https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/NATO (simple wikipedia is great when you need quick
answers!)

1. When was NATO founded?

- NATO was founded on April 4, 1949.

2. Why was the NATO founded? (keep it short)

- NATO was founded as a collective defense alliance to counter Soviet expansionism

in Europe. The original 12 member countries were committed to mutual defense in
response to an attack by any external party.

3. What are the main objectives of NATO?

- The main objective of NATO is to safeguard the freedom and security of its member
countries by political and military means. It works to provide collective defense,
crisis management, and cooperative security.

4. How many member states does NATO have?

- As of now (2024), NATO has 31 member states across North America and Europe

5. What does a state have to do to become a member of NATO?

- To become a member of NATO, a country must meet certain criteria and go through
a specific process. There are various criteria countries have to meet for NATO
membership including democracy, making progress toward a market economy
having military forces under civilian control, being a good neighbor, respecting the
sovereignty of other nations, and working toward interoperability with NATO force
etc

The process involves the following steps:

- The country expresses its desire to join NATO.
- NATO assesses the country's readiness and willingness to meet the membership
criteria.
- If eligible, the country may be invited to begin accession talks
- After the accession talks, the North Atlantic Council (consisting of various
ambassadors of member countries) makes a decision on whether to invite the
 country to join NATO.
- If a decision is reached, the Secretary-General of NATO invites the potential
member to accede the treaty

6. Give three examples of NATO in action (missions, for instance).

- NATO Mission in Kosovo (KFOR) (1999)

- Resolute Support Mission (2015-2021)
- Operation Active Endeavour

7. Why does NATO still exist today?

- NATO continues to exist today as a mutual defense alliance to counter threats

against member states. However, Its focus has evolved to address new global
challenges like terrorism, cyberattacks, weapons of mass destruction, and instability
around the world and especially around Europe.

8. NATO is an example of ‘collective security’ - what do you think that might be?

- Collective security refers to an arrangement where a group of countries agree to

take collective action against any member that is threatened or attacked. NATO is
an example of this because its core principle is that an attack on any one member
is treated as an attack on all