NATO, V.4.O

摘要

NATO is redefining itself for the third time in its history. Forged in 1949 to protect Western Europe from Soviet attack, the Alliance began taking on security issues outside of its immediate area and accepted new members to the east following the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and end of the Soviet Union some two years later. After the 9/11 terrorist attacks, member nations recognized that non-state violent extremists and the failure of nation states threatened global, and thus their own, security. The Alliance decided to use its organization to promote the stability of democratic nations. Now, with NATO's combat mission ending in Afghanistan in 14 months, the 64-year-oldAllianceagainfaces"amajor inflection point," said Deputy Secretary General Alexander Vershbow in a speech in Paris in late June.