All Resources: NATO Expansion

Steve Weber

NATO Expansion Web Resources

The most comprehensive independent resource for information on NATO expansion on the web is a site maintained by the Federation of American Scientists (FAS), available at http://www.fas.org/man/nato/index.html. The FAS’ dossier contains analyses of the policy-making process, NATO documents on the issue, as well as documents from several key NATO allies.

For NATO’s own account of its history, see http://www.nato.int/docu/facts/2000/what-is.htmM, and for the text of the original Washington Treaty establishing NATO in 1949 see http://www.nato.int/docu/basictxt/treaty.htm.

As to NATO enlargement itself, see http://www.nato.int/docu/facts/2000/access.htm for a timeline on the accession of the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland. A key document in the process was NATO’s 1995 comprehensive study on enlargement at http://www.nato.int/docu/basictxt/enl-9501.htm. While contemplating enlargement, NATO also pursued the Partnership for Peace (PFP), a current overview of which can be found at http://www.nato.int/docu/facts/2000/pfp-enh.htm.

At the Madrid Summit of 1997, NATO invited the first three former Warsaw Pact members to join. The invitation was a central element of the summit’s communiqué, a document that can be found at http://www.nato.int/docu/comm/m970708/home.htm.

Two years later, at NATO’s 50th Anniversary Summit in Washington, the Alliance formally welcomed the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland as new members. The summit was of course overshadowed by the war in Kosovo. For an overview of the Anniversary Summit, with particular attention to the new members, see http://www.nato.int/docu/facts/2000/ach-summ.htm. For the summit’s official communiqué, see http://www.nato.int/docu/pr/1999/p99-063e.htm.

In addition to adding new members, dealing with the war in Kosovo, and celebrating its anniversary, NATO also approved its New Strategic Concept, http://www.nato.int/docu/pr/1999/p99-065e.htm, as well as a Membership Action Plan (MAP) that affirms NATO’s "Open Door" policy for new members and lays out criteria for future enlargement. A formulation of NATO’s "Open Door" policy can be found at http://www.nato.int/docu/facts/2000/opendoor.htm, an overview of the Membership Action Plan is at http://www.nato.int/docu/facts/2000/nato-map.htm, and the actual MAP document can be found at http://www.nato.int/docu/pr/1999/p99-065e.htm.

In terms of the U.S. government, a key document laying out the Clinton administration’s policy is the State Department’s 1997 Report to Congress on the issue of NATO expansion, available at http://www.state.gov/www/regions/eur/9702nato_report.html. Other important manifestations of the administration’s policy can be found in Senate Foreign Relations Committee testimony on the issue of expansion by Secretary of State Madleine Albright, http://www.fas.org/man/nato/congress/1998/98022407_tpo.html, and by Secretary of Defense William Cohen, http://www.fas.org/man/nato/congress/1998/98022411_tpo.html, respectively.

The British government’s position on NATO expansion and on NATO’s role after fifty years can be found in a speech by Prime Minister Tony Blair to the Royal United Service Institute, on the web at http://www.fco.gov.uk/news/speechtext.asp?2094. See also Blair’s reporting on the Washington Summit back in the British House of Commons, at http://www.fco.gov.uk/news/newstext.asp?2335.