NATO
intergovernmental military alliance between 32 member states
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is an intergovernmental military alliance between 32 member states (thirty in Europe and two in North America). Founded in the aftermath of World War II, NATO was established with the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty in 1949. The organization serves as a system of collective security and deterrence, whereby its independent members agree to defend each-other from attack by any outside party. This is enshrined in Article 5 of the treaty, which states that an armed attack against the territory of one member shall be considered an attack against them all.
Throughout the Cold War, NATO's primary purpose was to deter and counter the threat posed by the Soviet Union and its satellite states, which formed the rival Warsaw Pact in 1955. Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the alliance adapted. NATO undertook its first military intervention in the Bosnian War (1992–1995); with a United Nations mandate, it enforced a no-fly zone and defended UN safe zones. NATO also intervened in the Kosovo War in 1999 by bombing Yugoslavia with the stated goal of ending the violence and repressive actions by the Milošević government. Article 5 was invoked for the first and only time by the United States after the September 11 attacks, leading to NATO involvement in the war in Afghanistan (2001–2014), as part of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). In 2011, NATO intervened in the Libyan civil war, with a UN mandate to enforce a no-fly zone and protect civilians.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “NATO” is intergovernmental military alliance between 32 member states. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through NATO, intergovernmental and military, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “intergovernmental military alliance between 32 member states” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 20, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7184. VIAF identifies the subject as 148423701. The Library of Congress control number is n79006743. 2 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1949, 1955, 1991 and 1992.
The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “NATO”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow NATO primary sources, NATO archive and NATO research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “NATO”?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “NATO” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.