NATO has brought 74 years of stability to Europe
As NATO celebrates its 74th anniversary on April 4, the Alliance has had a number of notable accomplishments since its inception in 1949.
Retired US Admiral James Stavridis, a former Supreme Allied Commander for Europe (2009-2013), cites NATO’s “impeccable record of deterring attacks against its members” as one of the Alliance’s greatest achievements.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization was established after World War II primarily in response to the Soviet Union’s threat to peace in Europe.
NATO’s founding document, the Washington Treaty, includes the alliance’s commitment to collective defense in Article 5. Article 5 states that an attack on one ally is considered an attack on all, a group that now includes 30 countries. The United States’ commitment to Article 5 is rock solid, as President Biden has stressed.
End centuries of hostilities
Before the two world wars, Europe had endured almost continuous hostilities across the continent, including the Hundred Years’ War (1337–1453), a struggle between England and France over the succession to the French throne; the Thirty Years’ War (1618–1648), a religious conflict fought primarily in Central Europe; the Seven Years’ War (1756–1763) between Britain and France; the Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) between France and a shifting group of other European powers; and the Franco-Prussian War (1870–1871). The two world wars (1914-1918 and 1939-1945) brought unprecedented destruction to the continent.
During the Cold War (1945-1991), NATO remained vigilant and prevented the horrific destruction that a third world war would have brought. NATO has helped maintain and advance peace and democracy across much of the continent and promoted both European and transatlantic cooperation.
After the end of the 20th century, post-Cold War Europe faced new security challenges. The NATO alliance conducted its first major response operation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, paving the way for the end of the 1992-1995 war in the country and again responding to the war in Kosovo in the late 1990s.
Stavridis says that NATO members not only work together on all elements of the alliance and allied security, but “broadly share fundamental values - democracy, freedom, free speech, freedom of expression, gender and racial equality.”
“A Uniquely Adaptable Alliance”
James Goldgeier, a NATO expert and professor at American University, said of Finland and Sweden’s ongoing NATO accession process: “These two countries will help ensure security and stability in northern Europe.” Their status as “established democracies”, he says, secures contributions to NATO as a military alliance and as a values-based institution.
New crises have emerged in the 21st century. Russia has invaded non-NATO countries in Europe: Georgia in 2008 and Ukraine, initially in 2014, followed by a full-scale invasion in 2022.
“The Russian invasion of Ukraine has shown without a doubt just how important NATO will continue to be,” said Kimberly Marten, a political scientist at Barnard College and Columbia University. “Putin helped bring a new sense of purpose and a new level of unity to NATO.”
“Putin’s unprovoked attack on Ukraine can be seen in part as an attempt to test NATO’s strength.” So far, the alliance has passed the test, Marten said, “with the US leading the way in building rapid, creative and cooperative responses , which draw on Washington’s long and enduring relationships with its NATO partners.”
“NATO has always been, and continues to be, a uniquely adaptable alliance that serves as a beacon for democracies in other geographic areas to join in security cooperation, as we have seen recently [nonmembers] Australia, New Zealand, Japan and Korea attended the 2022 NATO summit,” she said. “No group of authoritarian nations – not during the Cold War and not now – can even come close to matching the common sense of purpose of NATO members.”
