The North Atlantic Alliance and Collective Defense at 70: Confession and Response Revisited

The North Atlantic Treaty was largely a response to global sentiment that other international organizations, namely the United Nations, were not accomplishing their intended purpose of the maintenance and promotion of peace and order in the world. This had a magnifying effect due to the global trauma and destruction that had been witnessed by the world following World War II. This Article visits the realities of history that led to the formation of NATO as a collective measure for self-defense and the effectiveness it had as a response to global concern of peace preservation. Importantly, this Article analyzes the substantive military functioning articles of the North Atlantic Treaty, namely Article 5.

This Article serves to provide a reflection on the instability and overwhelming concerns that motivated the creation of NATO and its rippling effect felt globally as a responsory action. Lastly, this Article positions collective self-defense in the context off issues faced in 2019 and how it serves to respond to them.