<P> Since its founding, the admission of new member states has increased the alliance from the original 12 countries to 29 . The most recent member state to be added to NATO is Montenegro on 5 June 2017 . NATO currently recognizes Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Macedonia and Ukraine as aspiring members . An additional 21 countries participate in NATO's Partnership for Peace program, with 15 other countries involved in institutionalized dialogue programs . The combined military spending of all NATO members constitutes over 70% of the global total . Members have committed to reach or maintain defense spending of at least 2% of GDP by 2024 . </P> <P> The Treaty of Brussels was a mutual defence treaty against the Soviet threat at the start of the Cold War . It was signed on 17 March 1948 by Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, and the United Kingdom . It was the precursor to NATO . The Soviet threat became immediate with the Berlin Blockade in 1948, leading to the creation of a multinational defence organization, the Western Union Defence Organisation, in September 1948 . However, the parties were too weak militarily to counter the Soviet Armed Forces . In addition, the 1948 Czechoslovak coup d'état by the Communists had overthrown a democratic government and British Foreign Minister Ernest Bevin reiterated that the best way to prevent another Czechoslovakia was to evolve a joint Western military strategy . He got a receptive hearing in the United States, especially considering American anxiety over Italy (and the Italian Communist Party). </P> <P> In 1948, European leaders met with US defence, military and diplomatic officials at the Pentagon, under US Secretary of State George C. Marshall's orders, exploring a framework for a new and unprecedented association . Talks for a new military alliance resulted in the North Atlantic Treaty, which was signed by US President Harry S. Truman in Washington on 4 April 1949 . It included the five Treaty of Brussels states plus the United States, Canada, Portugal, Italy, Norway, Denmark and Iceland . The first NATO Secretary General, Lord Ismay, stated in 1949 that the organization's goal was "to keep the Russians out, the Americans in, and the Germans down". Popular support for the Treaty was not unanimous, and some Icelanders participated in a pro-neutrality, anti-membership riot in March 1949 . The creation of NATO can be seen as the primary institutional consequence of a school of thought called Atlanticism which stressed the importance of trans - Atlantic cooperation . </P> <P> The members agreed that an armed attack against any one of them in Europe or North America would be considered an attack against them all . Consequently, they agreed that, if an armed attack occurred, each of them, in exercise of the right of individual or collective self - defence, would assist the member being attacked, taking such action as it deemed necessary, including the use of armed force, to restore and maintain the security of the North Atlantic area . The treaty does not require members to respond with military action against an aggressor . Although obliged to respond, they maintain the freedom to choose the method by which they do so . This differs from Article IV of the Treaty of Brussels, which clearly states that the response will be military in nature . It is nonetheless assumed that NATO members will aid the attacked member militarily . The treaty was later clarified to include both the member's territory and their "vessels, forces or aircraft" above the Tropic of Cancer, including some overseas departments of France . </P>

Who was involved in the creation of nato
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