Nato-read between the lines- We are 60 years into the one world Governemt

[LatinAmericanview]

http://www.nato.int/docu/handbook/2001/hb0101.htm

The Origins of the Alliance

From 1945 to 1949, faced with the pressing need for economic reconstruction, Western European countries and their North American allies viewed with concern the expansionist policies and methods of the USSR. Having fulfilled their own wartime undertakings to reduce their defence establishments and to demobilise forces, Western governments became increasingly alarmed as it became clear that the Soviet leadership intended to maintain its own military forces at full strength. Moreover, in view of the declared ideological aims of the Soviet Communist Party, it was evident that appeals for respect for the United Nations Charter, and for respect for the international settlements reached at the end of the war, would not guarantee the national sovereignty or independence of democratic states faced with the threat of outside aggression or internal subversion. The imposition of undemocratic forms of government and the repression of effective opposition and of basic human and civic rights and freedoms in many Central and Eastern European countries as well as elsewhere in the world, added to these fears.

Between 1947 and 1949 a series of dramatic political events brought matters to a head. These included direct threats to the sovereignty of Norway, Greece, Turkey and other Western European countries, the June 1948 coup in Czechoslovakia, and the illegal blockade of Berlin which began in April of the same year. The signature of the Brussels Treaty of March 1948 1 marked the determination of five Western European countries - Belgium, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom - to develop a common defence system and to strengthen the ties between them in a manner which would enable them to resist ideological, political and military threats to their security.

Negotiations with the United States and Canada then followed on the creation of a single North Atlantic Alliance based on security guarantees and mutual commitments between Europe and North America. Denmark, Iceland, Italy, Norway and Portugal were invited by the Brussels Treaty powers to become participants in this process. These negotiations culminated in the signature of the Treaty of Washington in April 1949, bringing into being a common security system based on a partnership among these 12 countries. In 1952, Greece and Turkey acceded to the Treaty. The Federal Republic of Germany2 joined the Alliance in 1955 and, in 1982, Spain also became a member of NATO. The Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland joined NATO in 1999.

The North Atlantic Alliance was founded on the basis of a Treaty between member states entered into freely by each of them after public debate and due parliamentary process. The Treaty upholds their individual rights as well as their international obligations in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations. It commits each member country to sharing the risks and responsibilities as well as the benefits of collective security and requires of each of them the undertaking not to enter into any other international commitment which might conflict with the Treaty.

Between the creation of the Alliance and the present day, half a century of history has taken place. For much of this time the central focus of NATO was providing for the immediate defence and security of its member countries. Today this remains its core task, but its immediate focus has undergone fundamental change. The key features of this transformation are summarised in the relevant chapters of the Handbook.

   1. The Brussels Treaty of 1948, revised in 1984, represented the first step in the post-war reconstruction of Western European security and brought into being the Western Union and the Brussels Treaty Organisation. It was also the first step in the process leading to the signature of the North Atlantic Treaty in 1949 and the creation of the North Atlantic Alliance. The Brussels Treaty is the founding document of the present day Western European Union (WEU).

   2. In 1990, with the unification of Germany, the former German Democratic Republic came under the security protection of the Alliance as an integral part of the united country.

[LatinAmericanview]

Chapter 2: The Transformation of the Alliance
   Europe's New Security Environment

On the fourth of April 1989, the Alliance celebrated the fortieth anniversary of the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty. The event coincided with the beginning of a period of profound change in the course of East-West and international relations and a far-reaching transformation of the security environment. The role of the North Atlantic Alliance has been fundamental in bringing about the conditions for change described in these pages. By providing the basis for the collective defence and common security of its member countries and preserving a strategic balance in Europe throughout the Cold War period, the Alliance has safeguarded their freedom and independence. In accordance with the North Atlantic Treaty it continues to fulfil these core functions and has assumed new tasks in addition. It is building on the foundations it has created in order to promote stability based on common democratic values and respect for human rights and the rule of law throughout Europe.

The following sections describe the origins and course of these developments; the progress achieved towards the realisation of many of the long-standing goals of the Alliance; and the principal issues of concern facing member countries and NATO's Partner countries as they continue to adapt their policies and shape their common institutions to meet new challenges.

[LatinAmericanview]

This is a little interesting quote

'However. the rationale for NATO membership extends far beyond the confines of a financial balance sheet drawn up on the above basis and embraces political. economic. scientific. technological. cultural and other factors which do not lend themselves readily to translation into financial terms. Moreover, to arrive at a meaningful conclusion each member country would have to factor into the calculation the costs which it would have incurred, over time, in making provision for its national security independently or through alternative forms of international cooperation.'