History UsefulNotes / NATO

NATO has only been involved as a collective in three foreign conflicts -- Kosovo, Operation Unified Protector in Libya and [[UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan]].

Currently there are four countries that have indicated they wish to join NATO in the future: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Kosovo and Ukraine[[note]]The Crimean Crisis has caused significant issues to arise in terms of Ukrainian admission into NATO[[/note]]. Georgia's 2008 South Ossetia conflict with Russia makes any move towards NATO integration frought with risk. The other two have "Membership Action Plans" that lay out a path to eventually joining. As of 2018, UsefulNotes/{{Colombia}} has also partnered with NATO, being the first South American nation to do so, a move denounced by the left-leaning governments of the region.

NATO has only been involved as a collective in three foreign conflicts -- Kosovo, Operation United Protector in Libya and [[UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan]].

NATO has a massive number of mutual standards in the the weaponry field (known as [=STANAGs=], or '''Stan'''dardisation '''Ag'''reements), with the two standard rifle calibres used by them actually being called 5.56x45mm NATO and 7.62x51mm NATO in other publications. Since 1980, NATO rifles also have standardised magazine dimensions, with the 20- and 30-round magazines of the American [[CoolGuns/AssaultRifles M16 family]] being used in nearly all other 5.56mm assault rifles in NATO.[[note]]Ironically, despite this standard (STANAG 4179) being the most famous of them all, with the magazines being referred to as "STANAG magazines" even by gun owners who don't know what STANAG means, it and the accompanying STANAG 4181 (for the stripper clip and guide tool used to quickly load M16 magazines) were never actually ratified, making NATO members' compliance optional.[[/note]] The idea was to share logistical support in times of war by having everyone's guns use the same ammo, even if often it seemed like mostly acquiescing to whatever whim America had about calibers (first 7.62x51, then 5.56x45), with the exception of adopting the German 9x19mm round for handguns and submachine guns instead of the American .45 ACP (11.43x25).

Since NATO's ''raison d'être'' was to contain the USSR, it was supposed to be disbanded after the fall of the latter, but it continued to exist, and expand. Currently the NATO members' military budget is more than double that of all non-NATO nations combined. However, many members have not met their obligations to it for a long time, and it is uncertain how willing the western NATO nations would be to go to war to protect the newer, weaker eastern NATO nations at risk of conflict with Russia. NATO also had problems with running out of munitions during the airstrikes against Gaddafi in Libya. Given that apart from the US, most states in it do barely the bare minimum towards its upkeep, if even that, making it approach PaperTiger status, and jokes that NATO really stands for Needs Americans To Operate. In the late 2010s and early 2020s, no-one really knew what its purpose was, and for that reason it was very much criticized. Many people and governments still see it as a mere extension of the U.S. Army, that only serves American interests, while [[http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/gates-rebukes-european-allies-in-farewell-speech/2011/06/10/AG9tKeOH_story.html some American officials]] criticize NATO as the U.S. providing military welfare for European allies who don't or can't meaningfully contribute to their own defense; some European countries punching above their weight have historically had the same complaint (Poland had been particularly vocal in complaining about other members' reliance on the American military). Although NATO played a key role in ending conflicts in hot-spots like Bosnia, Kosovo, and Libya, there's always an ObligatoryWarCrimeScene in stuff like that, so it's a bit of a mixed bag.

The NATO member states and the rest of Russia's neighbors suddenly remembered what the point of the organization was in 2022, when Russia invaded Ukraine (which was not a NATO member). While it had seemed to some as a solution without a problem, Russia's attack made the organization's original purpose immediately relevant again.

The NATO member states and the rest of Russia's neighbors suddenly remembered what the point of the organization was in 2022, when Russia invaded the Ukraine (which was not a NATO member). While it had seemed to some as a solution without a problem, Russia's attack made the organization's original purpose immediately relevant again.

Since NATO's ''raison d'être'' was to contain the USSR, it was supposed to be disbanded after the fall of the latter, but it continued to exist, and expand. Currently the NATO members' military budget is more than double that of all non-NATO nations combined. However, many members have not met their obligations to it for a long time, and it is uncertain how willing the western NATO nations would be to go to war to protect the newer, weaker eastern NATO nations at risk of conflict with Russia. NATO also had problems with running out of munitions during the airstrikes against Gaddafi in Libya. Given that apart from the US, most states in it do barely the bare minimum towards its upkeep, if even that, making it approach PaperTiger status, and jokes that NATO really stands for Needs Americans To Operate. Nowadays, no-one really knows what its purpose is, and for that reason it is very much criticized: many people and governments see it as a mere extension of the U.S. Army, that only serves American interests, while [[http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/gates-rebukes-european-allies-in-farewell-speech/2011/06/10/AG9tKeOH_story.html some American officials]] criticize NATO as the U.S. providing military welfare for European allies who don't or can't meaningfully contribute to their own defense; some European countries punching above their weight have historically had the same complaint (lately, Poland has been particularly vocal in complaining about other members' reliance on the American military). Although NATO played a key role in ending conflicts in hot-spots like Bosnia, Kosovo, and Libya, there's always an ObligatoryWarCrimeScene in stuff like that, so it's a bit of a mixed bag.

NATO stands for North Atlantic Treaty Organisation. Set up in Brussels, Belgium to counter the threat of the USSR, it was the effective successor to the informal "Western Allies" of UsefulNotes/WorldWarI and UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, primarily centering upon those nations (the UsefulNotes/UnitedStates, the UsefulNotes/UnitedKingdom, UsefulNotes/{{France}}, UsefulNotes/{{Canada}}, etc) with the addition of West Germany. With the end of the UsefulNotes/ColdWar, a number of former UsefulNotes/WarsawPact countries joined the alliance, which made the Americans happy -- they got [=MiGs=], Sukhois and T-72s to play with.

NATO stands for North Atlantic Treaty Organisation. Set up in Brussels, Belgium to counter the threat of the USSR, it was the effective successor to the informal "Western Allies" of UsefulNotes/WorldWarI and UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, primarily centering upon those nations (the UsefulNotes/UnitedStates, UsefulNotes/{{Britain}}, UsefulNotes/{{France}}, UsefulNotes/{{Canada}}, etc) with the addition of West Germany. With the end of the UsefulNotes/ColdWar, a number of former UsefulNotes/WarsawPact countries joined the alliance, which made the Americans happy -- they got [=MiGs=], Sukhois and T-72s to play with.

* UsefulNotes/{{Taiwan}} (despite the US not officially recognizing it as a country)

** UsefulNotes/NorthMacedonia. They had wanted to join much earlier but Greece objected for the longest time over the country's name, which for the two of them was extremely SeriousBusiness but for the rest of NATO was seen as a petty reason to veto membership -- when the country changed its name to North Macedonia Greece dropped its veto.

According to Wiki/TheOtherWiki, a [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_non-NATO_ally major non-NATO ally]] refers to the countries that are close US allies but aren't members of NATO. They receive the benefits of being an US ally other non-NATO nations do not receive. They are:

-->-- '''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hastings_Ismay,_1st_Baron_Ismay General Hastings Lionel "Pug" Ismay, 1st Baron Ismay, first Secretary-General Of NATO]]''', stating the basic objective[[note]]At least for the British and probably the French[[/note]] of the organisation.

Four other countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Moldova) have rather extensive cooperation arrangements with NATO but don't wish to actually join for various reasons. [[RussiaIsWestern The possibility of Russian NATO membership]] has also been extensively discussed (especially in the 1990s), but recent events such as Russo-Georgian War and Russo-Ukrainian War have made any such developments impossible in the forseeable future.

Currently there are three countries that have indicated they wish to join NATO in the future: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, and Kosovo. Georgia's 2008 South Ossetia conflict with Russia makes any move towards NATO integration frought with risk. The other two have "Membership Action Plans" that lay out a path to eventually joining. As of 2018, UsefulNotes/{{Colombia}} has also partnered with NATO, being the first South American nation to do so, a move denounced by the left-leaning governments of the region.

Five other countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Moldova, and Ukraine[[note]]The Crimean Crisis has caused significant issues to arise in terms of Ukrainian admission into NATO[[/note]]) have rather extensive cooperation arrangements with NATO but don't wish to actually join for various reasons. [[RussiaIsWestern The possibility of Russian NATO membership]] has also been extensively discussed (especially in the 1990s), and is still seen as a viable option for the future.

NATO has only been involved as a collective in three foreign conflicts -- Kosovo, Operation United Protector in Libya and [[TheWarOnTerror Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan]].

** UsefulNotes/NorthMacedonia

Currently there are four countries that have indicated they wish to join NATO in the future: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, and Kosovo. Georgia's 2008 South Ossetia conflict with Russia makes any move towards NATO integration frought with risk. The other two have "Membership Action Plans". Pretty much the entire rest of NATO sees this as a frivolous objection but accepting new members requires unanimous agreement of the current ones (the only reason it was possible to have both Greece and Turkey as members is that they were brought in simultaneously, and thus neither could block the other). As of 2018, UsefulNotes/{{Colombia}} has also partnered with NATO, being the first South American nation to do so, a move denounced by the left-leaning governments of the region.

According to Wiki/TheOtherWiki, [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_non-NATO_ally Major non-NATO ally]] refers to the countries that are close US allies but aren't members of NATO. They receive the benefits of being an US ally other non-NATO nations do not receive. They are: