BRUSSELS
\nThe NATO military alliance in April marked 75 years since the signing of its founding treaty in Washington \u2014 where its members gather for an anniversary summit this week.
\nHere are some facts and figures about the organization forged in the Cold War and re-energised by Russia\u2019s war on Ukraine.
\nJust 12 countries were founding members of the North Atlantic Treaty in 1949 as the United States, Canada and much of western Europe clubbed together to face up to the threat of former World War II ally the Soviet Union.
\nAs the alliance\u2019s first Secretary General Lord Ismay quipped, NATO\u2019s purpose was to \u201ckeep the Soviet Union out, the Americans in, and the Germans down.\u201d
\nIn 1952, often uncomfortable neighbors Turkiye and Greece joined, before West Germany became a member three years later.
\nAfter the end of the Cold War, NATO went through several waves of eastwards enlargement that saw its border with Russia grow with the inclusion of Poland and the former Soviet Baltic states.
\nAfter Moscow invaded Ukraine in 2022, Nordic neighbors Sweden and Finland reversed long-standing policies of non-alignment by joining NATO \u2014 taking the alliance to 32 members.
\nIn total, NATO countries account for close to one billion people and around 50 percent of the world\u2019s GDP.
\nTogether they have 3.2 million men and women serving in their militaries.
\nIceland is the only member without its own army.
\nNATO has only ever once triggered its Article Five collective-defense clause \u2014 which says an attack on one member is considered an attack on all \u2014 after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.
\nThat decision was a show of support for the alliance\u2019s leading military power and far different from the threat in Europe originally foreseen by its founders.
\nThe fall-out from 9\/11 saw NATO get involved in Afghanistan where it remained until 2021, when a calamitous US-led withdrawal allowed the Taliban to take back power.
\nIn response to Russia\u2019s seizure of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, NATO allies agreed they would aim to spend two percent of their GDPs on defense.
\nThat goal was raised after Moscow launched its all-out invasion of its neighbor in 2022 to having two percent as a minimum.
\nFormer US president Donald Trump has railed against NATO countries not spending enough, warning he would encourage Russia to \u201cdo whatever the hell they want\u201d to those not meeting their obligations.
\nIn 2024, 23 NATO members are expected to reach or top two percent, up from three members in 2014.
\nJune 2024 marked 25 years since NATO deployed troops in Kosovo in 1999, completing the withdrawal of Serbian forces after its 77-day air campaign.
\nThat military intervention was just the second in NATO\u2019s history, following its involvement in Bosnia in the mid-1990s.
\nA quarter of a century on, NATO\u2019s Kosovo Force (KFOR) still remains on the ground in the Balkans, making it the alliance\u2019s longest-running mission.
\nAfter a rise in tensions last year led to rioting that wounded 93 NATO troops, allies agreed to send 1,000 additional soldiers to KFOR \u2014 taking its total to around 4,500.
\nBeyond the Balkans, NATO\u2019s other major overseas missions have included a nearly two-decade deployment in Afghanistan and the 2011 bombing campaign in Libya.
\nNo country has ever withdrawn from NATO, but France spent almost 43 years outside its military command structure after then-president Charles de Gaulle pulled out in 1966 complaining of US domination.
\nThe decision \u2014 which saw NATO move its headquarters from Paris to Brussels \u2014 was only reversed by former president Nicolas Sarkozy in 2009.
\nNonetheless, France\u2019s sometimes strained relationship with NATO continues. In 2019 President Emmanuel Macron said the alliance was suffering \u201cbrain death.\u201d
\nMacron later said Russia\u2019s 2022 invasion of Ukraine had woken up NATO with the \u201cworst of electroshocks.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
BRUSSELS The NATO military alliance in April marked 75 years since the signing of its founding treaty in Washington \u2014 where its members gather for an anniversary summit this week. Here are some facts and figures about the organization forged in the Cold War and re-energised by Russia\u2019s war on Ukraine. Just 12 countries were […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":416985,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-416970","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n