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What is NATO and when does it act?
CNN
NATO -- the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, to give it its full name -- is a non-aggressive European and North American defense alliance set up to promote peace and stability and to safeguard the security of its members.
The organization, which has its headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, was created as the Cold War escalated. Its aim was to protect Western European countries from the threat posed by the Soviet Union and to counter the spread of Communism after World War II.
In April 1949, its 12 founders -- the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France and eight other European nations -- signed the North Atlantic Treaty, pledging to protect each other by political and military means.
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