The Washington Post - USA (2022-03-01)

C8 EZ RE THEWASHINGTONPOST.TUESDAY,MARCH 1 , 2022

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JanuaryandFebruarywereadded.

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ILLUSTRATIONBYANAMACKLER,12,SILVERSPRING

the alliancehas refusedto do.

NATO’stop official calledRus-

sia’sinvasion a“brutal actof

war”and “senseless.”Although

Ukraineis not amember,NATO

has senttroopsand weaponsto

its member nations closestto

Ukraine.In addition,the United

States, Germanyand othermem-

ber countrieshave imposedeco-

nomic restraints, called sanc-

tions,topunishRussia.

WithRussiantroopsfighting

in Ukraine and deployedin near-

by Belarus,the risk for NATO has

increased“enormously,” said Ian

Lesser,aNATO expertwiththe

GermanMarshallFund of the

United States. He said the situa-

tion couldmakeitharderfor the

alliance to defend its eastern

edge.

Here is alook at NATO in a

changingworld:

lNATOwasfoundedin1949by

12 countriesconcernedthatthe

SovietUnionwouldexpandits

politicaland economicsystem,

calledcommunism,beyondEast-

ern Europe.This wasduringa

timecalledthe ColdWar, which

endedwiththe collapseof the

SovietUnionin1991.

lNATO now has 30 members.

Althoughits membershipis al-

mostentirelyEuropean,Article 5

(theall-for-onedefensepledge)

has been invoked justonce—

after the September11, 2001, ter-

roristattacks on the United

States. NATO also supported the

United States in the war in Af-

ghanistan.

lNATO’sheadquarters is in

Belgium.Fundingfor its opera-

tionscomesfrommembersbased

on theirnationalincomes.The

United States, one of the world’s

richesteconomies,paysmore

than other NATO countries.

lNATO doesnot have its own

armedforces.Instead it has a

militarycommandstructure that

workswith themilitariesofmem-

ber countriesin peacekeepingop-

erations.

lCountries wanting to join

NATO mustmeetpolitical,eco-

nomicand militarygoals proving

thattheycan contribute to

NATO’ssecurityaswell as benefit

from it. No countrythathas

joined NATO has ever left it.

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s bid for

membershipis not likely to ad-

vance whilethe countryisatwar,

analysts say.

Some people confuse NATO

with the UnitedNations.Both

organizationsfocus on peace-

keeping,but the United Nations,

with 193 membercountries,seeks

cooperation in areassuchas in-

ternationallaw, human rights,

the environmentand socialprog-

ress.

TheNorth AtlanticTreatyOrganization is madeupof30mostly

Europeanmembers, shown in blueonthe mapabove. Although

Ukraineisnot part of NATO,the alliance of nationshassent troops

in thepastweektonearby members, including Norwegian troops,

left,arrivinginLithuania on Sunday. NATO members have also

sent weapons to aid Ukraineinits defenseagainst Russia’s

invasion.Ukrainehas made abid to joinNATO. RussianPresident

VladimirPutinopposes thatplan.

BYMARYLOUTOUSIGNANT

If you have beenpaying atten-
tion to the news lately,you prob-
ably knowthatRussiahas invad-
ed Ukraine,its western neighbor.
Ukraine (pronounced you-
CRANE)had beenpartofthe
Soviet Union since 1922 but be-
came an independent country
whenthe SovietUnionbrokeup
in 1991.
Russian President Vladimir
Putin (VLAD-uh-meerPOO-tin)
claimsthatUkraine isn’tareal
countryand thatits landand
peopleare historically Russian.
He says it shouldbe partofRussia
again.Ukraine’s pro-Westerngov-
ernmentdefendsits rightto exist
and is fighting the invasion,
whichis the latestinaseriesof
assaultsby Russia overthe past
decade.Althoughthe invasion is
in its firstweek, somepeoplefear
thatitcouldbecomethe worst
conflictinEuropeinmorethan 75
years.
Akey player in the struggle is
the NorthAtlanticTreaty Organi-
zation (NATO). NATO is apoliti-
cal andmilitaryallianceof 30
mostly European nations. The
United States and Canadabelong
to NATO.Ukraine andRussiado
not.
Theheartofthe NATO alliance
is Article 5, an agreementthatan
armedattack on one memberwill
be viewed as an attack on all, and
thattheywilldefend one another.
Ukraine has madeabid to join
NATO,whichPutin opposes.He
doesn’t wantasixth NATO coun-
tryborderingRussia or its sepa-
rateKaliningrad territoryand
threateninghisholdonpower.He
has demandedthatNATOagree
to never admitUkraine,which

EXPLAININGTHENEWS

What is NATO? WarinUkraine raises profile of the alliance.

JANISLAIZANS/REUTERS

R

U S S I

A

KA

ZA

KH

STAN

U.S.

Atlantic

Ocean

Arctic

Ocean

CANADA

Greenland

ICELAND(DENMARK)

U.K.

NOR.

POL.

TURKEY

GER.

FRANCE

SPAIN

MONGOLIA

CHINA

N.KOR.

JAPAN

BELARUS

FIN.

SWE.

UKRAINE

Alaska

Arc

tic

Cir

cle

NATO memberstates

Pacific

Ocean

THEWASHINGTONPOST

NATOis apolitical

and militaryalliance

of 30 mostlyEuropean

nations.The United

Statesand Canada

belongto NATO.

Ukraineand Russia

do not.

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