NATO

Open Agenda

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was formally established on April 4, 1949, with the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty in Washington, DC. It was born out of the shared determination of twelve Western countries to avoid another war like World War II and to respond to the growing influence of the Soviet Union. The founding members (Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, the United Kingdom, and the United States) sought to create a political and military alliance based on the principle of collective defense.