A brief guide to NATO

The House of Commons Library published a comprehensive research briefing by Louisa Brooke-Holland on June 20, 2023, outlining the functions, structure, and progression of NATO since it was founded in 1949.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, or NATO, was established as a shield for collective security and to counter the threat from the Soviet Union.

Initially, it was “an alliance of ten European and two North American states – the UK, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxemburg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, and the United States”, as outlined in the briefing by Brooke-Holland.

Central to NATO’s essence is Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, which proclaims that “an armed attack against one shall be considered an attack against them all.” Interestingly, the briefing by Brooke-Holland points out that “Article 5 does not necessarily commit an ally to a military response” but mandates they assist by taking “such action as it deems necessary, including the use of armed force, to restore and maintain the security of the North Atlantic area.” It’s noteworthy that Article 5 was summoned for the first time following the 9/11 attacks in the US.

Membership has swelled over the years and the briefing highlights that Finland joined as the 31st member on April 4, 2023. In June 2022, NATO invited Sweden and Finland to join. However, the completion of Sweden’s joining process remains up in the air, as “every NATO member except Turkey and Hungary has ratified Sweden’s accession protocol.”

Countries can become members through Article 10 of the Washington Treaty. The briefing by Brooke-Holland explains, “Any European state may be invited by unanimous agreement to ‘further the principles’ of the Treaty and to ‘contribute to the security of the North Atlantic Area.’ NATO often says it has an ‘open door policy’.”

Decision-making is by consensus and involves the North Atlantic Council (NAC), which is “the principal political decision-making body at NATO, and each member country has a seat on the council.” The NAC, chaired by the Secretary-General, meets at least weekly.

Funding for NATO comes from both direct and indirect contributions from member countries. Direct contributions are predicated on Gross National Income. The briefing mentions the principle of “common funding”, which bankrolls NATO’s core budgets.

Indirect funding arises when “allies commit capabilities or troops to a military operation”, and the member state bears the costs themselves.

Regarding defence expenditures, the briefing mentions the 2% target, established at the 2006 Riga Summit. This stipulates that “2% of a member’s gross domestic product (GDP) should go towards defence expenditure”, but it’s a target, not an obligation.

NATO doesn’t possess its own military forces; rather, “each member contributes forces and equipment to specific operations or exercises.” NATO does, however, own some specific capabilities, such as AWACS early warning radar aircraft.

In 2022, NATO adopted a new Strategic Concept to “define the security challenges facing the Alliance and outline the political and military tasks NATO will carry out to address them.”

The NATO Parliamentary Assembly, which is separate from NATO, “provides a link between NATO and the legislative bodies of NATO members.” It produces reports and policy recommendations on security and policy challenges confronting Allied nations.

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