What is NATO? What does it do?

Whenever foreign policy, national defense, and national security are discussed in Turkey, our country's NATO membership naturally and inevitably comes to the agenda. And it should. Because NATO is not just a defense and security-based alliance, as its defenders, supporters, and proponents claim. It is much more than that, much more. It is an organization with ideological preferences and political-economic priorities. NATO is an instrument of aggression and occupation for US imperialism. Its primary goal is to keep member countries in line with the US, under US control, and open to US influence in a very wide field, ranging from the civil-military bureaucracy to the business world and academia.

NATO is a Cold War organization. It was established shortly after World War II (1939 – 1945), in 1949, with the North Atlantic Treaty by 12 members (USA, Canada, UK, Portugal, Norway, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Italy, Iceland, France, Denmark). In the founding texts, common defense, security, and cooperation were underlined, and it was emphasized that the risk of external attacks was reduced and that the great powers of Europe, which had fought each other in World War I and II, were brought together.

NATO conducted its first out-of-area operations between 1992 and 1995 in the Balkans, in Bosnia, for the purpose of monitoring and implementing UN resolutions and sanctions. Later, it was seen in the Balkans again in 1999, this time in Kosovo. The NATO attacks in Kosovo were the largest military operation in Europe since World War II. Moreover, it was organized without the approval of the United Nations Security Council.

Let us state that the US and NATO had a major influence on the disintegration of Yugoslavia.

According to the famous Article 5 of the treaty, which forms the essence of the alliance, an armed attack against any member is considered an attack against all members of the alliance. If Article 5 is invoked, it is foreseen that all allied countries will respond in solidarity and cooperation. Article 5 was invoked for the first time in the history of the alliance on September 12, 2001, following the terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers in the US on September 11, 2001. This decision was taken on the condition that it would not be implemented until it was determined that the September 11 attacks originated from outside the US. When the US presented evidence and information to the North Atlantic Council on October 2, 2001, that the perpetrator of the terrorist attack was the Al-Qaeda terrorist organization, NATO members reached a decision on October 4, 2001, on a series of measures to support the activities led by the US against terrorism.

Turkey's NATO membership and Marshall Aid

Turkey became a member in 1952, along with Greece. Federal Germany became a member in 1955, and Spain in 1982. Thus, NATO, which was founded by 12 members from both sides of the Atlantic, completed the Cold War with 16 members. In the 40 years between 1949 and 1989, NATO, which had 16 members in total, 12 of which were founders, focused on rapid expansion and encircling Russia after the Cold War.

It should be noted that while other members joined NATO with an ordinary application, Turkey became a NATO member by shedding the blood and giving the lives of its heroic Mehmetçik (Turkish soldiers) in the Korean War.

The first years of NATO are recorded as the first years of the Cold War period, and the 5 years between 1947 and 1952 were a period when US imperialism helped European economies with the Marshall Plan, and thus took important steps to consolidate US influence over Europe. US economic aid, of course, also increased political and military dependence. So much so that the US President of the period, Harry S. Truman (there is also a doctrine named after him in US foreign policy), said, "The Marshall Plan and NATO are two halves of an apple."

Even though the Warsaw Pact dissolved in 1989 and the bipolar world order became history, and even though the USSR collapsed two years later in 1991, NATO still continues to exist.

Why?

There is no communism. There is no USSR. There is no Warsaw Pact. There is no Eastern Bloc. There is no Berlin Wall. Why does NATO exist?

NATO expansion and the encirclement of Russia

Eight years after the dissolution of the USSR, in 1999, with the accession of the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland—that is, three former Eastern Bloc countries—the number of NATO members reached 19. In 2004, NATO made a larger expansion move. By incorporating Bulgaria, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia, along with Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, known as the Baltic Triplets, it increased its number of members to 26. With the membership of Albania and Croatia in 2009, Montenegro in 2017, and North Macedonia in 2020, the number of NATO members reached 30. When Finland became a NATO member in 2023 and Sweden in 2024, the number of NATO members rose to 32.

So, why does NATO exist? Does it exist against terrorism? Is it fighting against criminal organizations? Is NATO fighting against arms trafficking, drug trafficking, human trafficking, money laundering, weapons of mass destruction, radical movements, and cyber threats?

After the Cold War, the world witnessed the disintegration of Yugoslavia. It saw the terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers in the US on September 11, 2001.

So, which state has benefited the most from the results of these?

Is it not the US and European imperialism that tore Yugoslavia apart? Is it not the US that invaded Afghanistan in the same year following the terrorist acts of September 11, 2001, and Iraq in 2003 on the grounds that it "possessed weapons of mass destruction"?

Let us give an example immediately. In August 2003, NATO assumed responsibility for the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF IV) in Afghanistan. The supposed purpose of this force was to assist the interim Afghan administration in creating a secure environment for citizens living in the capital, Kabul, and its surroundings. In other words, according to the NATO dictionary, the occupation administration in Afghanistan actually became the interim administration. One would think that NATO went to Afghanistan for a truly well-intentioned job.

US imperialist needs and NATO

NATO's area of interest and influence is not limited to the two sides of the Atlantic, as written in its founding treaty. It is not limited to Europe either. It is much broader. In parallel with the goals of US imperialism, Eurasia is on NATO's target list. Encircling and containing Russia and China are among NATO's priorities. NATO is also in action for the realization of the Greater Middle East Project (briefly called GMEP, later renamed GMEI, the Greater Middle East and North Africa Initiative), which is an imperialist project of the US.

It should not be forgotten how the George Soros-backed color revolutions that took place in Georgia, Ukraine, and Kyrgyzstan in 2003, 2004, and 2005, respectively, and the occupations of Afghanistan and Iraq, concerned NATO excessively. For the US, which sees itself as an empire, NATO is a very important, very effective, very functional, and very useful organization. Because a large segment in the US sees US leadership as a primary goal, not only politically but also religiously. It believes that what is good for the US is also good for the world. It thinks that the US has not only political but also moral and religious responsibilities toward the world.

Besides all these functions, NATO is also very important for the arms industry, which is one of the leading and highest-volume sectors of the US economy. Because the US is the most important arms supplier to NATO member countries.

NATO cannot be thought of independently of capitalism, the free market economy, privatization, and the dominance of the US dollar on an ideological plane. It exists for these. For US imperialism, NATO is as important as the US dollar and the US Navy. Because the US bears down on hostile countries both directly and through NATO, and consolidates its influence in NATO member countries.

In short, no matter what is written in its founding treaty, NATO is a Cold War organization, an instrument of aggression and occupation for US imperialism. It is the greatest threat to world peace.