All exclusive institutions follow certain processes when admitting new members, and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is no different.
NATO, formed to help the West protect members from Soviet Union aggression, had 12 members at its founding in 1949: Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, United Kingdom, and the United States.
Ryan Brown is a community manager for The Dispatch. He previously served as a researcher and production assistant for Meet the Press.
