1. North Atlantic Treaty Organization
NATO

2. Significance of the Study
The Significance of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization
(NATO) is that it helps pursue security and defence to
different countries. Its primary goal is to maintain peace
and security. As students, NATO is a great help for us in
connection to our study of International Relations because
it involves different countries from two continents namely
North America and Europe. Countries from these two
continents are part of the study of International Relations.
To know NATO is a great opportunity to comprehend about
the collective defence, crisis management and cooperative
security development of the different countries in the
world. NATO is also a community of shared interests and
values. NATO countries consult in a shared forum, hold the
same principles, and act together. They decide together.

3. Area of Study
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) involves 28 North
American and European Countries. NATO countries have meetings to
discuss issues and decide it together. NATO summit meetings are held in
one of the member countries, including Belgium and NATO
Headquarters. The NATO Headquarters is located at Boulevard Leopold
III, 1110 Brussels, Belgium, on the northeast perimeter of the city. It is
home to national delegations of member countries and to liaison offices
or diplomatic missions of partner countries. Members volunteer to host
a summit meeting and, after evaluating all offers, the North Atlantic
Council (NAC) makes the final decision concerning the location. In
recent years, summit locations have held some thematic significance.
Just like the Washington Summit of 1999 commemorated the fiftieth
anniversary of the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty in that city.
Istanbul – which hosted a summit meeting in 2004 – connects Europe
and Asia and is where the Alliance launched the Istanbul Cooperation
Initiative. This initiative is intended to foster linkages between NATO
and the broader Middle East.

4. Facts of the Case
NATO has a group namely the North Atlantic Council (NAC). The members of NAC are the
secretary general chair which is supported by an International Staff of civilian and military
experts and official from NATO countries. NAC brings together high-level representatives
of each member country to discuss policy or operational questions requiring collective
decisions. The 28 countries that are members of NATO are: Albania, Belgium, Bulgaria,
Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary,
Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal,
Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Turkey, United Kingdom and United States. In sum, it
provides a forum for wide-ranging consultation between members on all issues affecting
peace and security. Some key Achievements of NATO are the
1300 STANAGs (Standardization Agreements), NATO countries participated in the Korean
War, the Lisbon Conference which expanded NATO's planned for the long term, the set
up of permanent force of 35 divisions supported by nuclear weapons and the set up the
post of Secretary General with the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE)
situated in Paris, Military Exercises, Clandestine Planning Committee (CPC) and NATO
countries were on standby during the Cuban Missiles crisis. NATO's biggest achievement
was surviving the Cold War. NATO also conducts different Operations and Missions. Their
current operations involve Afghanistan, Kosovo, Monitoring the Mediterranean Sea,
counter-piracy off the horn of Africa and Supporting the Atlantic Union.

5. IV. ANALYSIS OF DATA

6. 5 NATO Country Members
Member Country Personnel (North Atlantic Council
Country Representative)
Funding ( Civil, Military and NATO
Security Investment Programme
based on Gross National Income)
United States of America Ivo H. Daalder 21.7394
22.4042
21.7499
United Kingdom Mariot Leslie 12.5944
11.5478
11.5478
Canada Yves Brodeur 5.9532
5.5000
5.5000
Netherlands Frank Majoor 3.3271
3.3516
3.3516
Denmark Carsten Sondergaard 1.2619
1.5020
1.5020

7. Conclusion
NATO is a great organization because it prioritizes the welfare of the
different countries. It is also an organization that sets annual meetings
to plan for their funding. Member countries make direct and indirect
contributions to the costs of running NATO and implementing its
policies and activities. There are three budgets that come under the
organization; these are Civil Funding, Military Funding and NATO
Security Investment Programme. The civil budget provides funds for
personnel expenses, operating costs, and capital and programme
expenditure of the International Staff at NATO Headquarters. The
military budget covers the operating and maintenance costs of the
international military structure. It is composed of over 50 separate
budgets, which are financed from national defence budgets. The NATO
Security Investment Programme (NSIP) covers major construction and
command and control system investments, which are beyond the
national defence requirements of individual member countries. All of
the 28 member countries share in their funding. Countries like USA, UK,
Canada, Denmark and Netherlands are examples. USA shares the
biggest part of the funding followed by UK, then Canada, Denmark and
lastly, Netherlands.

8. Recommendation
The North Atlantic Council (NAC) should often time address
meetings in order to discuss different issues and also to clarify
the arguments of different countries. In our world today, issues
and conflicts are everywhere and NATO is the best organization
to help solve these issues. They should also concentrate on the
country that needs more assistance. NATO should have more
operations and missions. It is also good if they focused more on
peacekeeping and security because it is what we really need
today. Peace is a very important factor for a successful state.
Security is what every state would aim to. If these two are within
the organization, it will surely help them maintain their goal. We
also believe that NATO has been successful for their 63 years now
since it was founded on April 4, 1949. This is because of their
continuing assistance to other countries who needs them and for
their still ongoing promotion for peacekeeping and security.

10. 25
20
15
10
5
0
US UK Canada Netherlands Denmark
Civil
Military
NSIP