NATO Expansion

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is a military alliance that was formed in 1949 with the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty in Washington, D.C. The organization is founded on a system of "collective defense" whereby member states stand together in mutual defense in the event of an attack on another member state. NATO was formed during the Cold War, a time of political and military rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union, beginning after World War II in 1945 and lasting through the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. NATO was formed as the principle alliance system between Western European countries, Canada, and the United States against the Soviet Union and Soviet client states in...