NATO

American  

[ney-toh, en-ey-tee-oh] / ˈneɪ toʊ, ˈɛnˈeɪˈtiˈoʊ /

abbreviation

1. North Atlantic Treaty Organization: a political and military alliance established in 1949 in Washington, D.C., by 12 countries in Europe and North America for the purpose of collective defense against aggression, now comprising 32 member nations: Albania, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Montenegro, the Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

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NATO British  

/ ˈneɪtəʊ /

acronym

1. North Atlantic Treaty Organization, an international organization composed of the US, Canada, Britain, and a number of European countries: established by the North Atlantic Treaty (1949) for purposes of collective security. In 1994 it launched the Partnership for Peace initiative, in order to forge alliances with former Warsaw Pact countries; in 1997 a treaty of cooperation with Russia was signed and in 1999 Hungary, Poland, and the Czech Republic became full NATO members

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Example Sentences

France, Poland, the Nordic countries and Canada, which are now casting the contingency plan as a coalition-of-the-willing within NATO, according to officials involved.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 14, 2026

Macron also weighed in the president’s grumbling about leaving NATO.

From Salon • Apr. 2, 2026

In a post on X, Finnish President Alexander Stubb said he had a “constructive discussion” with Trump on Wednesday about NATO.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 1, 2026

European Command and top military chief at NATO, told Congress in a hearing earlier this month that the network of U.S. alliances in Europe were crucial for the U.S. military’s ability to “project power globally.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 1, 2026

In December 2002, Slovenia received an invitation to   join NATO, and it is scheduled to accede to the EU along with nine   other states on 1 May 2004.

From The 2003 CIA World Factbook by United States. Central Intelligence Agency