NATO – 8 Important Pros and Cons of the North Atlantic Alliance

Jay Song

2 minutes read

Pros and cons of NATO

NATO is the abbreviation for North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It is also known as North Atlantic Alliance. It is a military alliance that consists of 30 North American and European countries. Its headquarters is located in Brussels, Belgium.

Table of Contents

The Pros of NATO:

Some plus points of NATO are given below.

1. NATO offers defense to its allies

In case of an attack on any of the member countries, it would be considered as an attack on all of the alliance. This treaty guarantees the safety of its alliance countries no matter which country it might be. This makes the alliance very powerful.

2. NATO creates peace throughout the world

NATO is very prominent in creating peace around the world. This organization takes part in solving conflicts happening around the world. NATO is also there in Afghanistan, working very hard to create peace and to eliminate terrorism in Afghanistan.

3. NATO is tackling terrorism

NATO has trained local forces in Afghanistan to eradicate terrorism from there. They are also working hard so that terrorism can be eliminated from Iraq as well. The efforts of NATO against terrorism should be acknowledged. Terrorism is a big problem in today’s world.

4. NATO provides clear instructions

It is obvious that when so many countries are working together side by side and are bound to the treaty, there will be some level of confusion. But NATO is managing all of this quite well. It has laid a clear set of instructions for the alliance countries so that there should be no room for confusion.

5. Being a part of NATO is simple.

This is one of the basic policies of NATO. Any country from the European Atlantic region can join NATO if the country full fill the requirements which are required by NATO. One of the basic principles to join NATO is that the country joining should be a democratic country. This is an obligation if the country seeks to join the alliance.

The Cons of NATO:

Some cons are given below also

1. NATO is expanding

As you might know that the policy for joining NATO is quite simple, which means that many countries can join it. As the number of countries will increase in the alliance, so will the chances of conflict will too. If one country agrees to a decision, then who knows? Maybe the other country may not. This can become a major source of conflict.

2. The set of rules by NATO are changing.

As you might know that only democratic countries can join NATO. This is a requirement if you want to stay in NATO, but Turkey has become an autocratic state and is still a member of NATO. Is NATO not being strict anymore? What about its requirements now? Is it still the same as before? It doesn’t look like this anymore.