NATO - international military pact with headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. It was founded April 4, 1949 in Washington, USA. The organization is also known by its French acronym OTAN.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (Nord Atlantic Treaty Organization) established the so-called Treaty of Brussels, which concluded in 1948, Great Britain, France, Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg. The impetus for the creation of community were afraid of the Soviet Union, which after the defeat of Germany became a formidable military power. The founding members of the new alliance became the USA, Great Britain, France, Italy, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Iceland, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway and Portugal. Today, twenty-eight NATO members. The Czech Republic joined together with Hungary and Poland in 1999. After the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Warsaw Pact, which was established as a counterweight to NATO, the alliance engaged in combat campaigns in the Balkans, Afghanistan, Iraq or Libya. The organization provides, for example, also protect shipping in the Indian Ocean, where Somali pirates operate.