North_Atlantic_Treaty

North Atlantic Treaty

North Atlantic Treaty

1949 treaty forming the basis of NATO


The North Atlantic Treaty is the treaty that forms the legal basis of, and is implemented by, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The treaty was signed in Washington, D.C., on 4 April 1949.

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Background

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.[1]

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.[1]

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.[2] It is part of the US' collective defense arrangement with Western European powers, following a long and deliberative process.[3] The treaty was created with an armed attack by the Soviet Union against Western Europe in mind,[4] 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."[5]

Members

Founding members

Current NATO member states

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:[6][7]

Non-founding members who joined before the dissolution of the Soviet Union

Animated map of NATO membership over time

The following four states joined the treaty after the 12 founding states, but before the dissolution of the Soviet Union:

Members who joined after the dissolution of the Soviet Union

The following 16 states joined the treaty after the dissolution of the Soviet Union:

Withdrawal

No state has rescinded its membership but some dependencies of member states have not requested membership after becoming independent:

  •  Cyprus (independence from the United Kingdom in 1960)
  •  Algeria (independence from France in 1962)
  •  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."[5]

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.[5]

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."[8] This is sometimes referred to as the Canada Clause after Pearson pushed for its inclusion in the treaty.[9] This included proposals for a trade council, cultural program, technological sharing, and an information program. Of those, only the latter two were passed.[10][11] Nonetheless, it has been brought up by observers commenting on trade disputes between members.[12]

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."[5]

Recently, this has been interpreted as the basis for the target for a 2% GDP expenditure rule,[13] which was established as a loose guideline in 2006.[14] 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.[15][16] Per NATO documents, this has been understood to include seven key areas:

  • Continuity of government during a crisis
  • Energy and power grid infrastructure resilience
  • Immigration control
  • Food and water security
  • Medical emergencies
  • Resilient civil communications
  • Effective transportation networks[17]

Article 4

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."[18] 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.[19] It has been officially invoked seven times since the alliance's creation.[20]

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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.[46] 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.[47][48]

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.

September 11 attacks

Article 5 has been invoked only once in NATO history, after the September 11 attacks on the United States in 2001.[49][50] 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.[51] 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.[52]

Threatened invocations

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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.[60] Subsequent expansions, such as to the FRG in 1955, were treated in the same way.[61]

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.[62]

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.[63] 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.[64] 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.[65]

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.[66]

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:

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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.

Article 9

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

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[75] and Intensified Dialogue formula.[76]

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

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:[77]

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.

See also

Explanatory notes

  1. Joined as West Germany. After reunification in 1990, the former East German territory became covered by NATO protection.

References

  1. "Theodore Achilles Oral History Interview". Truman Library. Retrieved 29 May 2014.
  2. Cha, Victor (Winter 2009–2010). "Powerplay: Origins of U.S. Alliances in Asia". International Security. 34 (3): 158–196. doi:10.1162/isec.2010.34.3.158. S2CID 57566528.
  3. Mabon, David W. (May 1988). "Elusive Agreements: The Pacific Pact Proposals of 1949–1951". Pacific Historical Review. 57 (2): 147–178. doi:10.2307/4492264. JSTOR 4492264.
  4. "A short history of NATO". NATO. Retrieved 9 November 2022.
  5. Bevans, Charles Irving (1968). "North Atlantic Treaty". Treaties and other international agreements of the United States of America 1776–1949. Vol. 4, Multilateral 1946–1949. Washington, D.C.: Department of State. p. 831. LCCN 70600742. OCLC 6940. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
  6. NATO. "The North Atlantic Treaty". NATO. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
  7. "CANADA AND NATO". 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.
  8. Eldon, Stewart (7 March 2017). "Brexit and Security".
  9. Jans, Karljin (18 March 2022). "Will Russia's invasion boost NATO's budget?". Clingendal Institute. 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.
  10. "Press Briefing by NATO Spokesman, James Appathurai after the meeting of the North Atlantic Council at the level of Defence Ministers". 8 June 2006. Finally, I should add that Allies through the comprehensive political guidance have committed to endeavour, to meet the 2% target of GDP devoted to defence spending. Let me be clear, this is not a hard commitment that they will do it. But it is a commitment to work towards it. And that will be a first within the Alliance.
  11. "Report of the Committee of Three on Non-Military Cooperation in NATO". NATO.int. 13 December 1956. 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.
  12. "The consultation process and Article 4". NATO.int. 24 February 2022. Retrieved 25 February 2022.
  13. "NATO Foreign Ministers' statement on Patriot deployment to Turkey". 5 December 2012. 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.
  14. "UNSC, EU, NATO to hold urgent meetings over Ukraine". 1 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
  15. Ford, Matt (1 March 2014). "Russia's Seizure of Crimea Is Making Former Soviet States Nervous". The Atlantic. Retrieved 4 March 2014. Linas Linkevicius, Lithuania's foreign minister, responded on Saturday by invoking Article 4 of the North Atlantic Treaty ... for only the fourth time in the alliance's history.
  16. Baker, Peter (3 March 2014). "Top Russians Face Sanctions by U.S. for Crimea Crisis". The New York Times. 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.
  17. "Press conference by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg following the meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Commission". 26 November 2018. 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
  18. "Statement by the North Atlantic Council on Crimea". 18 March 2019. Retrieved 27 February 2022.
  19. "NATO war game defends Baltic weak spot for first time". EURACTIV MEDIA NETWORK BV. 19 June 2017.
  20. Ford, Dana (27 July 2015). "Turkey calls for rare NATO talks after attacks along Syrian border". CNN. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  21. "Statement by NATO Foreign Ministers on Assurance to Turkey". 1 December 2015. 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.
  22. "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.
  23. "Statement by the Secretary General after Article 4 consultations". 28 February 2020. Retrieved 27 February 2022.
  24. "Refugees reach Greek border as EU demands Turkey upholds its migration commitments". euronews.com. 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.
  25. "NATO vows to defend its entire territory after Russia attack". AP NEWS. 24 February 2022. Retrieved 25 February 2022.
  26. "Statement by the North Atlantic Council on Russia's attack on Ukraine". 24 February 2022. 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.
  27. "NATO to deploy thousands of commandos to nations near Ukraine". Al Jazeera. 25 February 2022. Archived from the original on 27 February 2022. Retrieved 26 February 2022.
  28. "Stoltenberg varsler mer hjelp". NRK (in Norwegian). 28 February 2022. Archived from the original on 28 February 2022. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
  29. Cook, Lorne. "NATO leaders agree to bolster eastern forces after invasion". ABC News. Archived from the original on 26 February 2022.
  30. Sherrod L. Bumgardner. "Article 4 of the North Atlantic Treaty". 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
  31. "Poland considers activating Nato's Article 4, says PM". 14 November 2021. Retrieved 25 February 2022.
  32. "Baltics pledge support to Poland over NATO's Article 4". 16 November 2021. Retrieved 1 March 2022.
  33. NATO: Key Events (timeline), 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"
  34. Daley, Suzanne (13 September 2001). "AFTER THE ATTACKS: THE ALLIANCE; For First Time, NATO Invokes Joint Defense Pact With U.S." The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 26 May 2017.
  35. "NATO's Operations 1949–Present" (PDF). NATO. 22 January 2010. Retrieved 4 September 2013.
  36. Ankara warns against attack on tomb, Hürriyet Daily News, 7 August 2012.
  37. Miller, Maggie (5 October 2022). "Albania weighed invoking NATO's Article 5 over Iranian cyberattack". Politico. Archived from the original on 5 October 2022. Retrieved 5 October 2022.
  38. Watson, Adrienne (7 September 2022). "Statement by NSC Spokesperson Adrienne Watson on Iran's Cyberattack against Albania". The White House. Archived from the original on 7 September 2022. Retrieved 5 October 2022.
  39. Hall, John (8 August 1965). "Hawaii Lacks NATO Coverage if Attacked". Chicago Tribune. UPI. p. 4. Retrieved 9 January 2019 via Newspapers.com Open access icon.
  40. "¿Están Ceuta y Melilla bajo el paraguas de la OTAN?". Newtral (in Spanish). 2 October 2021. Retrieved 25 February 2022.
  41. David P. Auerswald, and Stephen M. Saideman, eds. NATO in Afghanistan: Fighting Together, Fighting Alone (Princeton U.P., 2014)
  42. "Membership Action Plan (MAP)". NATO (Press release). 24 April 1999. NAC-S(99)66. Retrieved 5 February 2015.
  43. "NATO Press Release M-NAC-2 (97)155". www.nato.int. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
  44. The North Atlantic Treaty, Washington D.C., 16 January 1963 [1949-04-04]{{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.

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