The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is a military-political alliance established on 4 April 1949. It consistsof 2 North American and 28 European states. NATO’s purpose is to safeguard the freedom and security of all its members by political and military means.
The Alliance protects and respects such values as the sovereignty and territorial integrity of member states, democracy, individual liberty, human rights and the rule of law. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization has undergone many changes throughout its history to be able to rise up to new challenges, and still continues to engage in concerted efforts to prevent conflicts and ensure peace. NATO is the most effective military-political organization in modern history, which has been providing peace, security and freedom to over 1 billion people for more than 73 years.
NATO is an organization where each member state maintains full independence and sovereignty. The North Atlantic Alliance makes all decisions by consensus, with due regard for the interests of each member state. No matter the size of their territory, population, economy or military, each member state of NATO has an equal say in decision-making. The main decision-making body of NATO is the North Atlantic Council.

The North Atlantic Council meets at three levels to take its decisions: ambassadors (permanent representatives), ministers and heads of state (a meeting of heads of state is called a summit). One of the most important principles of NATO is collective defence, which is enshrined in article 5 of the Founding Treaty (so-called Washington Treaty). Article 5 provides that if a NATO Ally is the victim of an armed attack, each and every other member of the Alliance will consider this act of violence as an armed attack against all members and will take such action as it deems necessary, including the use of armed force, to restore and maintain the security of the North Atlantic area. NATO invoked Article 5 for the first and only time in its history after the 9/11 terrorist attacks against the United States.

NATO relies on the military forces of its member countries to carry out an operation or mission, as it does not possess military forces of its own on a permanent basis. But since 2006, NATO has been operating a high-readiness NATO rapid deployment force (NRF-NATO Response Force), comprising land, sea, air, and special forces units.

The decision to create a Rapid Response Force was unveiled by the commanders of NATO member states at the NATO Prague Summit in 2002. According to NATO doctrine, NATO can deploy NRF, if necessary, within five days to reinforce the launch of a full-scale operation by the main forces.
Due to recent escalations in Europe, rapid response forces of NATO steadily grew in size from 13000 to 30000.

The meetings of the North Atlantic Council are presided over by the Secretary General of NATO. NATO Secretary General has three principal roles: 1) chair of the North Atlantic Council, the Defense Planning Committee and the Nuclear Planning Group, the NATO-Russia Council, the NATO-Ukraine Council, the NATO-Georgia Council and the Mediterranean Dialogue; 2) Principal spokesperson for the Organization reflecting its positions on various issues; 3) Senior executive officer of the NATO.

The Secretary General of NATO does not have the right to vote, otherwise one of the member states represented by the Secretary General would have two votes instead of one vote enjoyed by each NATO member for a decision to be made. The Secretary General of NATO is appointed by the member states for a term of 4 years. To date, NATO has had a total of 12 Secretary Generals. Currently, the main post of the Alliance is held by the former Prime Minister of Norway, Jens Stoltenberg.

NATO has civilian and military structures whose activities incorporate political and military aspects. Each of these structures assists the decision-making body – the North Atlantic Council.

Each NATO member country has a delegation at NATO Headquarters, headed by an ambassador (also called permanent representative), who acts on instructions from their national authorities. Delegations are principally staffed with civil servants from the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Defence. With all the delegations in the same building, they are able to maintain formal and informal contacts with each other, as well as with NATO’s International Staff.

NATO Headquarters offers a venue for dialogue and cooperation between partner countries and NATO member countries, enabling them to work together in their efforts to bring about peace and stability.

The International Staff (IS) is a body situated at the NATO headquarters that provides advice, guidance, and administrative support to the North Atlantic Council (NAC) and the committees subordinate to it.The International Staff consists of representatives of member states. They are hired by NATO or appointed by relevant national bodies for a period of 3-4 years. The international Staff of NATO reports directly to the Secretary General. In addition to consulting and administrative duties, the International Staff is involved in the Alliance enlargement process. The employees of the International Staff actively help the countries on their path to join the Alliance carry out certain obligations.
Military Committee (MC) is the senior military authority in NATO subordinate to the political authorities of the North Atlantic Council. The Military Committee provides instructions to NATO’s political structures regarding military strategy and is responsible for the Alliance’s military activities. The Military Committee assesses the military strength and capabilities of countries posing a possible threat to NATO. During martial law, crisis situations or peacekeeping operations of the Alliance, it is responsible for submitting reports and recommendations to the North Atlantic Council and the Nuclear Planning Group. It should be noted that the military committee develops directives for NATO military commands. It also conducts negotiations on issues of collective security, defence and crisis management with representatives of the EU Military Committee.

NATO has two Strategic Commands: The Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe, headquartered in Mons, Belgium, and Allied Command Transformation, headquartered in Norfolk, Virginia, USA. The Supreme Allied Commander Europe commands the Allied Command Operations and the Allied Transfer Forces. The Supreme Allied Commander Europe is responsible for all land operations irrespective of their location. The position is normally held by a United States Flag or General officer, who also serves as Commander U.S. European Command. The Supreme Allied Commander Transformation is responsible for the transformation of military capabilities of the Alliance.