NATO

In June 1948 the U.S. Senate passed the Vandenberg Resolution, which allowed the United StatesUnited StatesThe United States is a federal country in North America made up of 50 states, the District of Columbia as the seat of government, and territories such as Puerto Rico and Guam; its capital is Washington, D.C. The Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. The 2020 census (April 1, 2020) counted a resident population of 331,449,281, and the 435 seats of the House of Representatives are apportioned among the states on the basis of the census.Open the full entry to join a mutual defence system in peacetime. That year British, Canadian and American officials began secret talks in the Pentagon that became the basis of the North Atlantic Treaty.⁠[1]

On April 4, 1949, the 12 founding members — Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, the United Kingdom and the United States — signed the North Atlantic Treaty, also known as the Washington Treaty, at the Departmental Auditorium in Washington, D.C.; Secretary of State Dean Acheson signed for the United States.⁠[2][1]

On July 21, 1949, the U.S. Senate approved the treaty by 83 votes to 13, and on July 25 President Harry S. TrumanHarry S. TrumanHarry S. Truman (1884–1972) was an American politician who served as a U.S. senator from Missouri and as vice president in 1945, succeeding Franklin D. Roosevelt on his death that year and serving as the 33rd president of the United States from 1945 to 1953, a period spanning the end of World War II and the early Cold War.Open the full entry and Acheson signed the instrument of accession, making the United States a founding member. On August 24 Truman said the treaty aimed to establish “freedom from aggression and from the use of force” in the North Atlantic community.⁠[1]

In 1949 NATO’s first headquarters was at 13 Belgrave Square in London.⁠[3]

The North Atlantic Council created the post of Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) in 1950 and on December 19, 1950, announced General Dwight D. EisenhowerDwight D. EisenhowerDwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969) was an American army general and politician who served as supreme commander of Allied forces in western Europe during World War II and as the 34th president of the United States, a Republican, from 1953 to 1961.Open the full entry as its first holder. Eisenhower arrived in Paris on January 1, 1951, and on April 2, 1951, signed the activation order for Allied Command Europe and its headquarters, SHAPE, which operated first from the Hotel Astoria in central Paris and from July 1951 from a permanent complex in the Paris suburb of Rocquencourt.⁠[4][1]

By March 1951, 101 of the 150 officers at SHAPE were Americans. In 1952 Eisenhower resigned as SACEUR and went on to become the 34th President of the United States; that year the Council also approved Allied Command Atlantic in Norfolk, VirginiaVirginiaVirginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state whose capital is Richmond. It entered the Union on June 25, 1788, as the 10th state, and had a population of 8,631,393 in the 2020 census (April 1, 2020).Open the full entry, under a U.S. Navy admiral.⁠[1]

Greece and Türkiye joined NATO on February 18, 1952, in its first enlargement. In April 1952 the headquarters moved to central Paris, first to the Palais de Chaillot and in 1960 to a purpose-built building at Porte Dauphine.⁠[5][3]

The Federal Republic of Germany joined NATO on May 6, 1955, and Spain on May 30, 1982.⁠[5]

After France withdrew from NATO’s integrated military command in 1966, the headquarters moved to Brussels, where a site built in six months was inaugurated on October 16, 1967.⁠[3]

Czechia, Hungary and Poland joined NATO on March 12, 1999, and Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia on March 29, 2004.⁠[5]

On the evening of September 12, 2001, less than 24 hours after the 9/11 attacks on the United States, the Allies invoked Article 5 for the first time in NATO’s history; on October 2, 2001, after being briefed on the results of the investigation, the North Atlantic Council determined that the attacks were covered by Article 5.⁠[6]

NATO’s first anti-terror operation, Operation Eagle Assist, ran from mid-October 2001 to mid-May 2002, with seven NATO AWACS radar aircraft patrolling U.S. skies and 830 crew members from 13 countries flying more than 360 sorties. Operation Active Endeavour, launched on October 26, 2001, sent Standing Naval Forces to patrol the Eastern Mediterranean and monitor shipping, and was extended to the entire Mediterranean in March 2004.⁠[6]

Albania and Croatia joined NATO on April 1, 2009, Montenegro on June 5, 2017, and North Macedonia on March 27, 2020.⁠[5]

After Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, NATO carried out the biggest reinforcement of collective defence since the Cold War: it tripled the size of the NATO Response Force, created a 5,000-strong Spearhead Force, and deployed multinational battlegroups in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland and a brigade in Romania. Cyberspace was recognized as an operational domain at the Warsaw Summit in July 2016, and space in November 2019.⁠[6]

After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the NATO Response Force was deployed for the first time in a deterrence and defence role, and at an extraordinary summit on March 24, 2022, leaders agreed to significantly strengthen the Alliance’s longer-term posture.⁠[6]

A new headquarters across the road from the old one, decided in 1999, was completed in 2017, and NATO moved in during 2018.⁠[3]

Finland joined NATO on April 4, 2023, and Sweden on March 7, 2024, bringing the membership to 32 countries, up from 12 founding members in 1949.⁠[5]

Mark Rutte, a former Prime Minister of the Netherlands, took office as NATO’s 14th Secretary General on October 1, 2024, succeeding Jens Stoltenberg, who had served since 2014.⁠[7][8]

On June 25, 2025, NATO heads of state and government meeting in the North Atlantic Council in The Hague issued The Hague Summit Declaration, committing Allies to invest 5% of GDP annually by 2035 on core defence and defence- and security-related spending: at least 3.5% on core defence and up to 1.5% on areas such as critical infrastructure, networks, civil preparedness, resilience, innovation and the defence industrial base. The trajectory and balance are to be reviewed in 2029, and direct contributions to Ukraine’s defence and defence industry count toward Allies’ defence spending. The declaration reaffirmed the commitment to Article 5.⁠[9]

The NATO Summit was held at the Beştepe Presidential Complex in Ankara, Türkiye, on July 7–8, 2026, and the Ankara Summit Declaration was issued on July 8. NATO states that European Allies and Canada had increased core defence investment by more than USD 139 billion since the 2025 Hague commitment; at the summit Allies announced more than EUR 50 billion in procurement deals, agreed to invest over USD 40 billion over five years in counter-drone capabilities and committed EUR 27 billion to modernize fuel storage and distribution infrastructure. Allies pledged EUR 70 billion in military equipment, assistance and training for Ukraine for 2026, with at least an equivalent level for 2027.⁠[10]

As of November 2026 Rutte remains Secretary General. NATO Headquarters on Boulevard Leopold III in Brussels is the permanent home of the North Atlantic Council and houses the national delegations of member countries, liaison offices or missions of partner countries, and the International Staff and International Military Staff; as of March 2024 it had about 4,000 full-time staff and hosted some 6,000 meetings a year.⁠[7][3]

The North Atlantic Treaty has 14 articles and has never been modified; new members join through accession protocols. Article 5 provides for collective defence — an attack against one Ally is considered an attack against all — with each member deciding for itself what assistance, not necessarily military, it considers necessary; Article 6 defines the geographic scope of Article 5; Article 10, the basis of NATO’s “open door policy,” allows any “European State in a position to further the principles of this Treaty” and to contribute to the security of the North Atlantic area to be invited to join; and Articles 12 and 13 allow a review after 10 years and withdrawal only after 20 years, provisions that have never been used.⁠[2][6][5]

The Secretary General is NATO’s top international civil servant, chairing major committees including the North Atlantic Council, acting as the Alliance’s principal spokesperson and heading the International Staff; the post-holder is nominated by member governments for an initial four-year term, which can be extended by mutual consent.⁠[8]

Before Rutte, the Secretaries General were Lord Ismay (1952–1957), Paul-Henri Spaak (1957–1961), Dirk U. Stikker (1961–1964), Manlio Brosio (1964–1971), Joseph Luns (1971–1984), Lord Carrington (1984–1988), Manfred Wörner (1988–1994), Willy Claes (1994–1995), Javier Solana (1995–1999), Lord Robertson of Port Ellen (1999–2003), Jaap de Hoop Scheffer (2004–2009), Anders Fogh Rasmussen (2009–2014) and Jens Stoltenberg.⁠[8][7]

NATO: Official website: https://www.nato.int/ (opens in a new window).⁠[2]

X: Public account: https://x.com/nato (opens in a new window).⁠[2]

LinkedInLinkedInLinkedIn is a social networking platform for professionals. It was founded in 2002 by Reid Hoffman and others, launched in 2003, and listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2011; after Microsoft acquired it for approximately $26.2 billion in 2016, it became a wholly owned Microsoft subsidiary. Its revenue comes from membership subscriptions, advertising, and recruitment solutions.Open the full entry: Public profile: https://www.linkedin.com/company/nato/ (opens in a new window).⁠[2]

YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is Google’s video-sharing and creator platform, founded in 2005 by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim and acquired by Google in 2006. Built around video uploading, viewing, and creator earnings, the platform has developed Shorts, YouTube Music, Premium, YouTube TV, and products for children, and is headquartered in San Bruno, California, United States.Open the full entry: Public channel: https://www.youtube.com/NATO (opens in a new window).⁠[2]