This study will assist the student toward understanding the most important mutual security alliance. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) which is also sometimes called the North Atlantic Alliance, the Atlantic Alliance, or the Western Alliance is a military alliance established by the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty on 4 April 1949. With headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, the organization established a system of collective defense whereby its member states agree to mutual defense in response to an attack by an external party. Principally designed with defense in mind, more recently NATO has taken on more offensive "out of area" roles in the Balkans and Afghanistan.

The student will analyze why NATO was created in the first place. Focus will also be given as to what the alliance has accomplished and, more importantly, how it has changed since the collapse of the former Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact in 1991. Finally, the student will study NATO's new emerging 21st century role in providing regional and economic viability.