75 years of NATO
Asset Publisher
75 years of NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Alliance at a critical juncture
Asset Publisher
At a glance
- To this day, NATO membership is one of the most important pillars of German security and defence policy.
- NATO was primarily a response to the USSR's expansionist ambitions towards Western Europe after the Second World War. Its mission was deterrence and defence of the Alliance's territory.
- After the end of the Cold War and NATO's eastward expansion, NATO fell into a crisis of purpose and sought a new direction in its defence policy with international crisis missions.
- The Russian war of aggression against Ukraine has manifested the relevance of NATO again. It has greatly accelerated reforms that had already been initiated and shifted the focus on the Alliance´s actual core tasks.
- The challenges for the alliance are great. Military capabilities must be expanded to include the dimensions of space and cyberspace. Also, climate change is high on the agenda.
Content
3. Breach of international Law in 2014
4. “Zeitenwende” or the 2022 Watershed Moment of Security Policy
5. The US and the Transatlantic Defence Alliance
8. Publications, events and media contributions on the topic
NATO celebrates its 75th anniversary in 2024. We are taking this as an opportunity to honour the historical role of the alliance in maintaining peace in Europe. Our activities and publications will shed light on current and future developments in the Alliance and discuss present challenges, also against the backdrop of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine.
Return to the Core Mission: NATO returns to Deterrence and Defence
In the 75th year of its existence, the North Atlantic Treaty Alliance has returned to its core mission: deterrence and defence of a territorial aggressor. Founded on 4 April 1949, NATO was primarily a response to the Soviet Union's expansionist ambitions and military superiority over Western Europe after the Second World War. On 9 May 1955 - ten years after the German capitulation - Chancellor Konrad Adenauer signed the Federal Republic's certificate of accession to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation in Paris. To this day, NATO membership is an important - if not the most important - cornerstone of German security and defence policy. Remarkably, the Bundeswehr was founded on 12 November 1955, six months after Germany joined NATO! The Bundeswehr has therefore been involved in NATO's multilateral cooperation from the very beginning.
NATO Throughout History: Searching for Meaning after the Cold War and Eastward Enlargement
Here, the history of the alliance touches on and is conditioned by current developments: After the end of the Cold War, there was a change in NATO's defence policy orientation away from deterrence and towards international crisis management in the 1990s.
After the end of the systemic rivalry with the socialist Eastern bloc and NATO's eastward expansion in 1999, the alliance entered a phase of searching for meaning. Criticism of the alliance culminated in the memorable accusation by the French president in 2019 that NATO was "brain-dead". One of the reasons for this statement was the attitude of the United States of America: no US president before Donald Trump had criticised the alliance so openly and thus damaged its reputation as much as the 45th President of the United States (2017 - 2021).
Breach of International Law in 2014: Start of the Most Comprehensive Reforms in NATO History
Russia's annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula Crimea in violation of international law in 2014 marked the beginning of the biggest adjustment process in NATO's history. The Central and Eastern European allies in particular recognised the danger posed by the Russian Federation - after the Russian attack on Georgia in 2008, some had already warned the Alliance of their neighbour's imperialist ambitions and the threat to the European defence architecture. This assessment, however, was not shared equally by all the populations of the NATO member states - but certainly by all NATO representatives at the Brussels headquarters.
“Zeitenwende” or the 2022 Watershed Moment of Security Policy: No More Questioning of the Alliance’s Relevance
The full-scale invasion by Russia on 24 February 2022 and the ongoing war against Ukraine since then have accelerated internal reforms tremendously and made the relevance of the Alliance painfully clear even to the last - i.e. Western - allies. NATO's Strategic Concept of June 2022 recognises this new, old threat to the Alliance. NATO's defence planning will be reviewed for its resilience before the 75th NATO Summit in Washington D.C. from 9-11 July 2024. There are also a number of potentially impactful political events in 2024.
Erststimme #87: Nico Lange
Nico Lange in conversation after the Munich Security Conference 2024 about its results, the situation in Ukraine and the impact of this conflict on the international security situation.
(only in German)
podigee
The US and the Transatlantic Defence Alliance: Europe Must Share More of the Burden
The most important of these is the US presidential election on 5 November 2024, in which a victory for the Republican Party could have a significant impact on support for Ukraine and also on NATO. The European partners, and Germany in particular, must take on more responsibility in the defence alliance.
Germany´s Role in NATO: In Great Need for Adaption and Coordination
Germany has a central role to play, not least due to its geographical location. In an emergency, tens of thousands of troops will have to be deployed from and through Germany to the Alliance's borders in order to provide defence support in the shortest possible time. This poses demands not only on German infrastructure and administrative processes, but also on personnel, material, and finances, for which both the Bundeswehr must be upgraded, and the reservist system revitalised. Civilian emergency services such as the Federal Agency for Technical Relief (THW), police, fire brigade and rescue services must be able to work hand in hand with the Bundeswehr in such a scenario.
NATO’s Current Challenges: Space, Cyber, Climate Change – Big Tasks, Small Budget
There are also other topics on the agenda that will keep NATO busy until the Washington Summit and beyond: NATO, for example, has taken up the cause of the effects of climate change as a centrally important topic area. In addition to the traditional dimensions of land, air and sea, the dimensions of space and cyberspace have been added to NATO's classic fields of operation in recent years. In addition, Critical infrastructure must be effectively protected.
The tasks are huge, time is short, and budgets are fiercely contested - there is a lot to discuss in NATO's 75th year.
Feel free to contact us if you have any questions or suggestions on the subject of Germany's role in NATO!
Asset Publisher
Asset Publisher
Asset Publisher
Publications to the topic
NATO Anniversary 2024 – 75 Years of Collective Defence
The stakes are high before the Alliance’s anniversary summit from 9 to 11 July in Washington D.C. - what is now required of the member states
-
Christina Bellmann
-
April 4, 2024
-
Monitor
NATO
More than (just) the North Atlantic
-
April 2, 2024
-
International Reports
Looking in All Directions
NATO Mission Iraq and the Alliance’s Role on Its Southern Flank
-
Lucas Lamberty
-
April 2, 2024
-
International Reports
Japan-NATO Alignment
Fostering Cooperation and Strategic Synergies
-
Stephen Nagy
-
April 2, 2024
-
International Reports
Gradually, Then Suddenly
Assessing Washington’s Commitments to Europe in a Pre-war World
-
Peter Rough
-
April 2, 2024
-
International Reports
Family Reunion
NATO and Australia
-
Bertil Wenger, Justin Burke
-
April 2, 2024
-
International Reports
Editorial
-
Dr. Gerhard Wahlers
-
April 2, 2024
-
International Reports
Are We Doing Enough?
German and European Contributions to NATO
-
Christina Bellmann, Alexander Schuster
-
April 2, 2024
-
International Reports
A Security Partnership with Substance
Colombia as a Global Partner of NATO
-
Stefan Reith
-
April 2, 2024
-
International Reports
“NATO’s Essential Core Is Unconditional Reliability”
An Interview with Ambassador Géza Andreas von Geyr
-
Dr. Sören Soika, Fabian Wagener
-
April 2, 2024
-
International Reports
Der NATO-Doppelbeschluss vom 12. Dezember 1979
Seine Folgen für die deutsch-deutschen Beziehungen
-
Prof. Dr. Hermann Wentker
-
April 1, 2024
-
Essay
Die Transatlantische Partnerschaft in der NATO im Wandel der Zeit
Rückschau und Ausblick
-
Dr. Karl-Heinz Kamp
-
April 1, 2024
-
Essay
A lot of news in the East: NATO combat brigades for the Baltic States
6 countries - 2 ways - 1 common purpose: Scaling the trip wire to heavy ordnance
-
Andreas Geyer, Oliver Morwinsky
-
August 21, 2023
-
Country Reports
From Zone of Peace to Hotbed of Conflict?
The Geopolitical Importance of the Arctic
-
Michael Däumer
-
April 18, 2023
-
International Reports
Immer einen Schritt hinterher?
Deutsche Sicherheitspolitik nach dem NATO-Gipfel von Madrid
-
Philipp Dienstbier
-
November 18, 2022
-
International Reports
Mehr als ein reines Militärbündnis
Gründung und historische Entwicklung der NATO
-
Dr. Agilolf Keßelring
-
March 16, 2022
-
Essay
Eine Mitgliedschaft Schwedens und Finnlands in der NATO ist wahrscheinlicher geworden
-
Gabriele Baumann, Richard Forsén
-
March 9, 2022
-
Country Reports
Umbruch oder Stabilität?
Die Entwicklung des internationalen Staatensystems, 2000–2020.
-
Brendan Simms
-
January 10, 2022
-
Essay
Diese NATO ist unsere NATO
Was Deutschland für das Bündnis tun muss
-
Dr. Patrick Keller
-
October 28, 2021
-
The Political Opinion
Die Interventionspolitik des Warschauer Paktes im Kalten Krieg
-
Dr. Peter Ruggenthaler
-
March 31, 2021
-
Essay
Asset Publisher
Events on the topic
Apr
11
2024
Jul
19
2024
75 Jahre NATO
Ringvorlesung an der Universität Bonn
May
15-16
2024
„Adenauer-Konferenz“: Germany's Role in International Security Policy
German security policy - between obligations and capabilities
May
28
2024
75 Jahre NATO: Sicherheit und Frieden für Europa – wie lange noch?
Kooperationsveranstaltung mit der Gesellschaft für Sicherheitspolitik Sektion Oldenburg
Jun
22
2024
Kiel Security Conference 2024
Critical Junctures – the Future of the North
Event Reports on the topic
Publications
Media library
The NATO debate in the USA and the alliance's partnership with Colombia
How is NATO and the country's future foreign policy being discussed in the USA? And a look at the NATO partnership with Colombia.
75 Jahre NATO
Wir sprechen mit Brigadegeneral a.D. Rainer Meyer zum Felde, über das erfolgreichste Verteidigungsbündnis der Geschichte, das am 4. April sein 75-jähriges Bestehen feiert.
read nowWarum die NATO gegründet wurde – und Deutschland Mitglied geworden ist
Kurz und prägnant erläutert das Video, warum die NATO 1949 gegründet wurde, wer die westliche Gemeinschaft bedrohte – und wieso die Bundesrepublik der NATO 1955 beigetreten ist.
Roderich Kiesewetter in an interview: NATO, Russian imperialism and the future of Ukraine
In this episode of our podcast, we talk to Roderich Kiesewetter, Member of the German Bundestag and military expert, about the security situation and the future of Europe.
Military expert Gustav Gressel: Three scenarios for Ukraine
In this episode of our podcast, we talk to military expert Gustav Gressel about the major challenges facing the Ukrainian armed forces (in German).
Und wir haben doch Recht behalten: 40 Jahre Nachrüstung
Wir sprechen mit Dr. Karl-Heinz Kamp über den NATO-Doppelbeschluss vor 40 Jahren und die Rolle und Möglichkeiten der NATO bis in unsere heutige Zeit.
read nowAsset Publisher
XII. Adenauer Conference
The event will take place from 15 to 16 May at the Academy of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation.
More