NATO
Definition
NATO, or the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, is an intergovernmental military alliance formed in 1949. It was created as a collective defense measure to ensure the security and protection of its member countries.
Related terms
Warsaw Pact: A mutual defense treaty established by the Soviet Union and several Eastern European countries in response to NATO.
Cold War: A period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union, characterized by political, economic, and ideological rivalry.
Iron Curtain: Winston Churchill's term for the division between Western Europe (capitalist democracies) and Eastern Europe (Soviet-controlled communist states) during the Cold War.
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Practice Questions (5)
Why was NATO created?
Which event most directly led to the formation of NATO in 1949?
What did NATO's expansion after the collapse of Soviet Union signal about international relations trends after the cold war?
What might be a potential alternate outcome had NATO never been formed?
How might world politics look today if NATO had disbanded after the collapse of the USSR?
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