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NATO turns 60

April 3, 2009

As NATO leaders meet to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the military alliance's founding, Deutsche Welle looks at the organization's history, its current operations and future challenges.

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Image: dpa

Started as a group of nations committed to a system of mutual defense, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization has grown from a political association to a major player in peacekeeping missions around the world.

NATO's first secretary-general, Lord Ismay, said the alliance's reason for being was "to keep the Russians out, the Americans in, and the Germans down." Sixty years after the organization was formed on April 4, 1949, the Russians are still out, the Americans are still in but the Germans are far from down.

Deutsche Welle looks at the NATO's past, its current operations and the challenges facing the alliance in the 21st century.

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Reports & Analysis

NATO history

englisch: NATO history - Produziert: 04.04.2009 - 10:38:32 von hermann
April 4, 200903:14 min
NATO General Secretary Hastings Ismay

NATO history

Part one of DW-WORLD's NATO retrospective looks at the years 1949 to 1989.
April 3, 2009

TT The role of Germany in the NATO

President Obama has already said he wants Nato's members in Europe to do more to help the US win the war in Afghanistan. Although Germany has been a part of NATO missions for over fifty years, Berlin is reluctant to deploy its soldiers in combat roles. German soldiers in Afghanistan are largely involved in reconstruction efforts. But as security there deteriorates, pressure is growing on the government in Berlin to bring those soldiers home. +++syn+++
April 4, 2009

TT NATO relationship with Russia

Aside from Afghanistan, NATO's relationship with Russia will dominate talks this weekend. NATO was set up largely to discourage an attack by the Soviets on the non-Communist nations of Western Europe. But since the fall of the iron curtain, the military alliance has been looking to expand eastward, to include former soviet states as members. Russia sees this push east towards its borders as a threat to its national security. The Bush adminstration added to the growing tension by pursuing plans to build a missile defence system in eastern europe. But now, Barack Obama is pursuing a new course with moscow.
April 4, 2009

In-Depth look at NATO 60 years on

Welcome Back. The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation - or NATO marks its 60th anniversary on Saturday. The world's most powerful military alliance was formed after the Second World War - as a counterweight to the Soviet Union and its allies. In 1955, the communist bloc came together as the Warsaw Pact. And the world was divided into two hostile camps. Much has changed since then. The Cold War is over.. and NATO expanded to include 28 members.. some of them former communist countries. Croatia and Albania became the newest to join the group earlier this week. The enlargement of NATO is viewed with some suspicion by Russia - particularly the inclusion of former Warsaw Pact countries. Just as the composition of the alliance has changed - so have the challenges which face it. In our special report today, we look back at NATO's eventful history in the past sixty years.
April 3, 2009

Nato Turns 60

Part two of DW-WORLD's NATO retrospective looks at the years 1989 to the present.
April 1, 2009
The NATO star on the gates of its HQ in Brussels

Looking to the future

NATO celebrates 60 years of existence by deliberating over a new strategy to meet future threats.
April 2, 2009
Montage of NATO symbol and flying military jets

NATO summit

Germany is seeking revision of NATO strategy at a summit celebrating 60 years of alliance.
April 3, 2009
British and Afghan troops in combat

Fixing Afghanistan

NATO's chief warns that no country will be able to pull out of Afghanistan in the near future.
March 30, 2009
A soldier gazes at the NATO logo

NATO Return

French parliamentarians prepare to vote on their country's return to NATO's military command.
March 17, 2009