[HIGHLIGHTS] The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)...a military alliance to contain the "communist threat"

NATO was established in 1949 with the aim of confronting the expansion of the Soviet Union in Europe and the world after World War II. The NATO headquarters is located in Brussels, and after its expansion, it now includes 32 countries, and Sweden was the last country to join it on March 7, 2024.

The founding countries of the alliance are: the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Canada, Belgium, France, Denmark, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, and Portugal.