NATO’s Purpose in the 21st Century

Victoria Hassan
Professor Shirk
American Foreign Policy
14 March 2018
NATO’s Purpose in the 21st Century
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization was created in 1949 and initially unified twelve countries, including Iceland, Canada, Ireland, Denmark, Norway, and Portugal. The original purpose of the NATO Treaty was to bring these nations together to provide security against the agressions and spread of communism by the Soviet Union. Besides defending these twelve nations from the Soviet Union, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization also sought to put an end to militarism in Europe -- specifically an end to communism, authoritarianism, and fascism --  and allow for European integration.
However, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization currently serves a different purpose in the 21st century. After the Cold War era, NATO has focused on expanding the number of member countries within the organization itself. For example, Poland, the Czech Republic, and Hungary joined the organization in 1999 and Croatia and Albania joined in 2009. The members of NATO also seek assistance from nations outside of Europe. Today, NATO currently consists of 29 member countries, which has ultimately inflicted fear and anger in Russia due to this expansion of the organization.
Additionally, new threats have been established since the end of the Cold War, resulting in a change to NATO’s purpose. NATO has become more of a proactive organization instead of remaining a merely defensive alliance. For instance, NATO has utilized military action in order to counteract terrorism in Afghanistan. With this mission, NATO sought to provide the Afghan area with security and protection against terrorist forces by carrying out the United Nations-mandated International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). This was also the first time that NATO invoked Article V, which states that the organization operates based on collective security and that an armed attack against at least one of the member countries would be considered an attack against all of the member countries.
Currently, NATO works closely with the European Union and the two organizations often assist one another in issues of common interest. Both NATO and the European Union share many of the same member countries in their organizations and often work together to manage international crises. NATO also engages in peacekeeping missions, such as intervening in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the Yugoslav Wars. Also, today NATO seems to be viewed as a bulwark, or protective wall, against the spread of aggression and Chinese and Russian influence.
Overall, NATO maintains its previous defensive purposes today while also taking on new roles, such as military action to counteract terrorism and peacekeeping.
Work Cited
“NATO / OTAN.” What Is NATO?, NATO, www.nato.int/nato-welcome/index.html.

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