Has NATO invaded a country?
In the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, a coalition of countries – including many NATO Allies – militarily intervened in Afghanistan in the fall of 2001.
In 1949, there were 12 founding members of the Alliance: Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Since Russia's illegal and illegitimate annexation of Crimea in 2014, NATO has helped to reform Ukraine's armed forces and defence institutions, including with equipment and financial support. Allies have also provided training for tens of thousands of Ukrainian troops.
Why isn't Nato sending troops to Ukraine? As Ukraine isn't a member, Nato isn't obliged to come to its defence. Nato countries fear that if their troops confront Russian forces, it could lead to an all-out conflict between Russia and the West. This is also why Nato rejected a no-fly zone over Ukraine.
| NATO bombing of Yugoslavia | |
|---|---|
| NATO Belgium Canada Denmark France Germany Italy Netherlands Norway Portugal Spain Turkey United Kingdom United States | FR Yugoslavia |
| Commanders and leaders | |
| Wesley Clark (SACEUR) Rupert Smith Javier Solana Gen. John W. Hendrix James O. Ellis | Slobodan Milošević Dragoljub Ojdanić Nebojša Pavković |
| NATO Intervention, Location | Year Initiated |
|---|---|
| Ace Guard, Kuwait-Iraq | 1991 |
| Operation Joint Guard, Bosnia and Herzegovina | 1992 |
| Operation Allied Force, Kosovo-Montenegro-Serbia | 1999 |
| Afghanistan War, Afghanistan | 2003 |
In 1949 Sweden chose not to join NATO and declared a security policy aiming for non-alignment in peace and neutrality in war.
Australia, Japan and South Korea are all U.S. security allies. Australia and New Zealand are part of the “Five Eyes” intelligence-sharing alliance that also involves Britain, Canada and the United States, while Japan and Australia are members of the “Quad” group along with the United States and India.
The combined total of Nato military personnel currently exceeds 5.4m – around four times as many as Russia, according to Statista.
The NATO Alliance consists of 30 member states from North America and Europe. Article Five of the treaty states that if an armed attack occurs against one of the member states, it should be considered an attack against all members, and other members shall assist the attacked member, with armed forces if necessary.
What happens if one NATO country attacks another?
The goal of collective defence is codified in Article 5 NAT. It states that an attack against one member of NATO should be considered an attack against all. In this case, all other NATO allies will assist the said attacked member.
The combined total of Nato military personnel currently exceeds 5.4m – around four times as many as Russia, according to Statista.
On 19 March 2011, a multi-state NATO-led coalition began a military intervention in Libya, to implement United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973, in response to events during the First Libyan Civil War.