Ratification by the majority of the signatories including Belgium, Canada, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States
The treaty was signed in Washington, D.C., on 4 April 1949 by a committee which was chaired by US diplomat Theodore Achilles. Earlier secret talks had been held at the Pentagon between 22 March and 1 April 1948, of which Achilles said:
The talks lasted about two weeks and by the time they finished, it had been secretly agreed that there would be a treaty, and I had a draft of one in the bottom drawer of my safe. It was never shown to anyone except Jack [Hickerson]. I wish I had kept it, but when I left the Department in 1950, I dutifully left it in the safe and I have never been able to trace it in the archives. It drew heavily on the Rio Treaty, and a bit of the Brussels Treaty, which had not yet been signed, but of which we were being kept heavily supplied with drafts. The eventual North Atlantic Treaty had the general form, and a good bit of the language of my first draft, but with a number of important differences.[2]
According to Achilles, another important author of the treaty was John D. Hickerson:
More than any human being Jack was responsible for the nature, content, and form of the Treaty...It was a one-man Hickerson treaty.[2]
As a fundamental component of NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty is a product of the US' desire to avoid overextension at the end of World War II, and consequently pursue multilateralism in Europe.[3] It is part of the US' collective defense arrangement with Western European powers, following a long and deliberative process.[4] The treaty was created with an armed attack by the Soviet Union against Western Europe in mind,[5] although the mutual self-defense clause was never invoked during the Cold War.
By signing the North Atlantic Treaty, parties are "determined to safeguard the freedom, common heritage and civilization of the peoples, founded on the principles of democracy, individual liberty and the rule of law."[6]
Members
Founding members
The following twelve states signed the treaty and thus became the founding members of NATO. The following leaders signed the agreement as plenipotentiaries of their countries in Washington, D.C., on 4 April 1949:[7][8]
Malta (independence from the United Kingdom in 1964)
Articles
Article 1
Article 1 of the treaty states that member parties "settle any international disputes in which they may be involved by peaceful means in such a manner that international peace and security, and justice, are not endangered, and to refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force in any manner inconsistent with the purposes of the United Nations."[6]
Members seek to promote stability and well-being in the North Atlantic area through preservation of peace and security in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations.[6]
Article 2
Article 2 of the treaty stipulates that "The Parties will contribute toward the further development of peaceful and friendly international relations by strengthening their free institutions, by bringing about a better understanding of the principles upon which these institutions are founded, and by promoting conditions of stability and well-being. They will seek to eliminate conflict in their international economic policies and will encourage economic collaboration between any or all of them."[9] This is sometimes referred to as the Canada Clause after Pearson pushed for its inclusion in the treaty.[10] This included proposals for a trade council, cultural program, technological sharing, and an information program. Of those, only the latter two were passed.[11][12] Nonetheless, it has been brought up by observers commenting on trade disputes between members.[13]
Article 3
Article 3 of the treaty states that "In order more effectively to achieve the objectives of this Treaty, the Parties, separately and jointly, by means of continuous and effective self-help and mutual aid, will maintain and develop their individual and collective capacity to resist armed attack."[6]
This was interpreted in 2022 as the basis for the target for a 2% GDP expenditure rule,[14] which was established as a loose guideline in 2006.[15] This metric was confirmed again during the 2014 Wales summit.
It has also been used as a core concept for a mandate to strengthen member resilience: the ability to resist and recover from major disasters, failures in infrastructure, or traditional armed attack. This commitment was first accepted during the 2016 Warsaw summit, and further reiterated and clarified due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021.[16][17] In accordance with NATO documents, this has been understood to include seven key areas:
Article 4 is generally considered the starting point for major NATO operations, and therefore is intended for either emergencies or situations of urgency. It officially calls for consultation over military matters when "the territorial integrity, political independence or security of any of the parties is threatened."[19] Upon its invocation, the issue is discussed in the North Atlantic Council, and can formally lead into a joint decision or action (logistic, military, or otherwise) on behalf of the Alliance.[20] It has been officially invoked seven times since the alliance's creation.[21]
Deployment of littoral, naval, and air forces in the Black Sea by Romania, Bulgaria, and Turkey.[28] Condemnation and support for sanctions of member countries and international community.[29] Reform and medical aid to the Ukrainian government.[30] Creation of the NATO Enhanced Forward Presence.[31]
There have also been instances where Article 4 was not formally invoked, but instead threatened. In fact, this was viewed as one of the original intentions for Article 4: as a means to elevate issues and provide member nations a means of deterrence.[47] For example, in November 2021, the Polish foreign ministry—along with Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia—briefly considered triggering Article 4 due to the Belarusian migrant crisis, but it was not formally requested.[48][49]
Article 5
The key section of the treaty is Article 5. Its commitment clause defines the casus foederis. It commits each member state to consider an armed attack against one member state, in the areas defined by Article 6, to be an armed attack against them all. Upon such attack, each member state is to assist by taking "such action as [the member state] deems necessary, including the use of armed force, to restore and maintain the security of the North Atlantic area." The article has only been invoked once, but considered in a number of other cases.
Article 5 has been invoked only once in NATO history, after the September 11 attacks on the United States in 2001.[50][51] The invocation was confirmed on 4 October 2001, when NATO determined that the attacks were indeed eligible under the terms of the North Atlantic Treaty.[52] The eight official actions taken by NATO in response to the 9/11 attacks included Operation Eagle Assist and Operation Active Endeavour, a naval operation in the Mediterranean which was designed to prevent the movement of terrorists or weapons of mass destruction, as well as enhancing the security of shipping in general. Active Endeavour began on 4 October 2001.[53]
The downing of an "unarmed" Turkish military jet which was "13 sea miles" from Syria over "international waters" on a "solo mission to test domestic radar systems".[54][55] On 25 June, the Turkish Deputy Prime Minister said that he intended to raise Article 5.[56]
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan stated that "The tomb of Suleyman Shah [in Syria] and the land surrounding it is our territory. We cannot ignore any unfavorable act against that monument, as it would be an attack on our territory, as well as an attack on NATO land... Everyone knows his duty, and will continue to do what is necessary".[57]
Chair of the Defence Select Committee of the United Kingdom Tobias Ellwood said that any deliberate attack against the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine that could cause radiation leaks would be a breach of Article 5. This statement was released over fears that a nuclear catastrophe could occur in the Russian-occupied plant during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. The next day, American congressman Adam Kinzinger said that any radiation leak into NATO countries would kill people, which would be an automatic activation of Article 5.[58]
Albanian prime minister Edi Rama revealed that his government had considered invoking Article 5 in response to a major cyberattack on 15 July 2022 targeting critical and government infrastructure, widely believed to have been carried out on behalf of Iran by state–affiliated cybercriminals.[59][60]
Article 6
Article 6 states that Article 5 covers only member states' territories in Europe, North America, Turkey, and islands in the Atlantic north of the Tropic of Cancer.
A clarification regarding the territories to which Article 5 applies was issued by Article 2 of the Protocol to the North Atlantic Treaty on the accession of Greece and Turkey signed on 22 October 1951.[61] Subsequent expansions, such as to West Germany in 1955, were treated in the same way.[62]
In 1954, following India's annexation of Dadra and Nagar Haveli, the Portuguese government was precluded from invoking Article 5 due to Article 6, but it was understood at the time that Article 4 could be invoked.[63]
It was the opinion in August 1965 of the US State Department, the US Defense Department, and the legal division of NATO that an attack on the U.S. state of Hawaii would not trigger the treaty, but an attack on the other 49 would.[64] The Spanish cities of Ceuta and Melilla on the North African shore are thus not under NATO protection in spite of Moroccan claims to them. Legal experts have interpreted that other articles could cover the Spanish North African cities but this take has not been tested in practice.[65] This is also why events such as the Balyun airstrikes did not trigger Article 5, as the Turkish troops that were attacked were in Syria, not Turkey.[66]
On 16 April 2003, NATO agreed to take command of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan, which includes troops from 42 countries. The decision came at the request of Germany and the Netherlands, the two states leading ISAF at the time of the agreement, and all nineteen NATO ambassadors approved it unanimously. The handover of control to NATO took place on 11 August, and marked the first time in NATO's history that it took charge of a mission outside of the area delineated by Article 6.[67]
Articles 7 and 8
In the case of any contradiction with other international obligations (with the exception of the United Nations, which by Article 7 supersedes NATO), or in military conflict of two NATO members, Article 8 comes into force.[citation needed] This is most important in cases should one member engage in military action against another member, upon which the offending members would be held in abeyance of the treaty and thereby NATO protection as a whole. This has not occurred yet, but there have been several militarised disputes between NATO allies that have threatened this:
If an intra-NATO conflict were to occur, there exist intra-NATO alliances which would be triggered instead in the instance of the abeyance. The following is a list of such active, intra-NATO military alliances.
Establishes the North Atlantic Council, and is the only NATO body that derives its authority directly from the treaty. Its primary objectives as stated in the treaty is the enforcement of Article 3 and Article 5.
Article 10 dictates the process by which other countries may join NATO, which is by unanimous agreement by current NATO members. Further, new NATO members can only consist of other European nations. In practice, this has turned into a set of action plans which an aspiring nation must follow in order to become a member, including the Membership Action Plan (MAP) mechanism[80] and Intensified Dialogue formula.[81]
Article 11
Article 11 indicated the process of the initial ratification of the treaty. Each signatory nation was required to ratify the treaty through their respective constitutional processes. In order to come into force, the treaty had to be ratified by Belgium, Canada, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
Article 12
Article 12 states the process by which the treaty may be amended, provided such amendments still affect the North Atlantic area and do not violate the Charter of the United Nations. In practice, this has only been used to clearly delineate which territories are under the purview of NATO.
Article 13 delimits the process by which a member leaves NATO, which simply consists of a one-year notice by the member nation to the U.S. government in its role as the treaty depositary, which then promulgates the notice to the other member nations. This has been contemplated by a number of member nations, but so far has not happened aside from withdrawals due to independence of former territories or dependencies (namely, Algeria, Malta, and Cyprus).
Otherwise, the next closest option for a member nation is to instead withdraw from NATO's military command structure, but not from NATO entirely. This happened with France in 1966, which rejoined in 2009; and with Greece in 1974, which rejoined in 1980 after the new Turkish military government ended its objections to Greek re-entry.
Article 14
Article 14 notes the official languages of NATO as English and French, and that the United States government shall promulgate copies of the treaty to the other member nations.
Changes since signing
Three official footnotes have been released to reflect the changes made since the treaty was written:[82]
Regarding Article 6:
The definition of the territories to which Article 5 applies was revised by Article 2 of the Protocol to the North Atlantic Treaty on the accession of Greece and Turkey signed on 22 October 1951.
Regarding Article 6:
On 16 January 1963, the North Atlantic Council noted that insofar as the former Algerian Departments of France were concerned, the relevant clauses of this Treaty had become inapplicable as from 3 July 1962.
Regarding Article 11:
The Treaty came into force on 24 August 1949, after the deposition of the ratifications of all signatory states.
^"CANADA AND NATO". Archived from the original on 4 April 2022. Retrieved 4 April 2022. The report's ideas about enhanced economic partnerships and cultural connections were not implemented, but two major initiatives were adopted: a more robust information programme to explain NATO and its mission better to Allied audiences, and the creation of a NATO Science Programme, which has encouraged scientific and technological innovation across the Alliance and provided support to many Nobel laureates.
^Eldon, Stewart (7 March 2017). "Brexit and Security". Archived from the original on 23 March 2023. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
^Jans, Karljin (18 March 2022). "Will Russia's invasion boost NATO's budget?". Clingendal Institute. Archived from the original on 31 May 2023. Retrieved 28 March 2022. which goes beyond the idea of the 2% target. This will require focusing on Alliance readiness levels with, at the centre the NATO Defence Planning Process, addressing the full spectrum of challenges. NATO's Article 3 will remain the fundamental principle to make this a reality.
^"Report of the Committee of Three on Non-Military Cooperation in NATO". NATO.int. 13 December 1956. Archived from the original on 25 February 2022. Retrieved 25 February 2022. Special attention must be paid, as explicitly recognised in Article 4 of the Treaty, to matters of urgent and immediate importance to the members of NATO, and to 'emergency' situations where it may be necessary to consult closely on national lines of conduct affecting the interests of members of NATO as a whole. There is a continuing need, however, for effective consultation at an early stage on current problems, in order that national policies may be developed and action taken on the basis of a full awareness of the attitudes and interests of all the members of NATO. While all members of NATO have a responsibility to consult with their partners on appropriate matters, a large share of responsibility for such consultation necessarily rests on the more powerful members of the Community.
^"NATO Foreign Ministers' statement on Patriot deployment to Turkey". 5 December 2012. Archived from the original on 27 February 2022. Retrieved 27 February 2022. As the North Atlantic Council made clear on June 26 and October 3, we stand with Turkey in the spirit of strong solidarity. We, the NATO foreign ministers, declare our determination to deter threats to and defend Turkey. In response to Turkey's request, NATO has decided to augment Turkey's air defence capabilities in order to defend the population and territory of Turkey and contribute to the de-escalation of the crisis along the Alliance's border.
^"UNSC, EU, NATO to hold urgent meetings over Ukraine". 1 March 2014. Archived from the original on 6 March 2014. Retrieved 6 March 2014. Meanwhile, Lithuania and Latvia called upon the North Atlantic Council, the decision-making body of NATO, to hold an extraordinary session on Ukraine, citing security concerns., Turkishpress.com
^Baker, Peter (3 March 2014). "Top Russians Face Sanctions by U.S. for Crimea Crisis". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 24 July 2014. Retrieved 4 March 2014. NATO called its second emergency meeting on Ukraine in response to a request from Poland under Article 4 of the North Atlantic Treaty relating to threats to a member state's security and independence.
^"Press conference by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg following the meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Commission". 26 November 2018. Archived from the original on 26 February 2022. Retrieved 27 February 2022. NATO has increased its presence in the Black Sea region on land, but also with air policing over the Black Sea region, including the Black Sea, and we have a regular NATO presence in the Black Sea, with naval capabilities. Then of course we have three littoral states: Romania, Turkey and Bulgaria
^"Statement by NATO Foreign Ministers on Assurance to Turkey". 1 December 2015. Archived from the original on 27 February 2022. Retrieved 27 February 2022. On the basis of our December 2012 decision, the Alliance has been augmenting Turkey's air defence. We remain determined, in a spirit of 28 for 28, to continue developing additional NATO assurance measures and Allies are working to prepare other possible contributions.
^"Greece 'vetoes NATO statement' on support for Turkey amid Syria escalation". 29 February 2020. Archived from the original on 3 March 2020. Retrieved 1 March 2022. The Russian military later explained that the Syrian army targeted Hayat Tahrir al-Sham terrorists operating in the province, adding that Syrian government forces were not informed about the Turkish presence in the area.
^"Refugees reach Greek border as EU demands Turkey upholds its migration commitments". euronews.com. 28 February 2020. Archived from the original on 28 February 2020. Retrieved 28 February 2020. The emergency meeting, held on Friday morning in Brussels, was held under Article 4 of NATO's founding treaty, which allows any ally to request consultations if it feels its territorial integrity, political independence or security is threatened.
^"Statement by the North Atlantic Council on Russia's attack on Ukraine". 24 February 2022. Archived from the original on 27 May 2023. Retrieved 1 March 2022. Today, we have held consultations under Article 4 of the Washington Treaty. We have decided, in line with our defensive planning to protect all Allies, to take additional steps to further strengthen deterrence and defence across the Alliance.
^Sherrod L. Bumgardner. "Article 4 of the North Atlantic Treaty". Archived from the original on 24 February 2022. Retrieved 26 February 2022. In 1954, the first Secretary General of NATO, Lord Ismay, emphasized Article 4 consultation as a deterrence measure before an armed attack
^NATO: Key Events (timeline)Archived 5 November 2014 at the Wayback Machine, 2001: "Large-scale terrorist attacks in New York and Washington D.C.—NATO invokes Article 5 for the first time ever and adopts a broader approach to security"
^The North Atlantic Treaty, Washington D.C., 16 January 1963 [1949-04-04], archived from the original on 12 April 2023, retrieved 10 March 2022{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
Further reading
Watry, David M. (2014). Diplomacy at the Brink: Eisenhower, Churchill, and Eden in the Cold War. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press.
External links
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