北大西洋公约组织(NATO)
全名North Atlantic Treaty Organization
用以保护欧洲不受苏联侵犯的国际军事联盟。英国、法国、荷兰、比利时以及卢森堡在1948年组成了一个集体防御联盟，但被认为不足以抵御苏联可能的入侵。美国和加拿大在1949年同意与他们的欧洲盟国一起组成一个扩大的联盟，这就是北约。北大西洋公约声明，任一盟国受到的侵袭都将被视作对其他所有成员国的侵犯。该组织设有一个集中管理机构，下设三个指挥部，分别负责欧洲、大西洋和英吉利海峡的事务。1955年西德的加入导致由苏联主导的华沙公约组织（华沙公约）的产生，与北约相抗衡。1966年法国退出北约的军事合作。由於北约地面部队的力量弱於华沙公约组织，因此北约更注重保持武器方面的优势，包括中程核子武器。1991年华沙公约组织解体後，北约撤除了核子武器，并试图重新界定自己在後冷战时代的地位。该组织介入了1990年代的巴尔干冲突。1999年又接纳了原华沙公约组织的波兰、匈牙利和捷克加入，成员国增加到十九个。
English version：
NATO
International military alliance created to defend Western Europe from Soviet expansion. A 1948 collective-defense alliance between Britain, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg was recognized as inadequate to deter potential Soviet aggression, and in 1949 the U.S. and Canada agreed to join their European allies in an enlarged alliance. The North Atlantic treaty stated that an attack on one signatory should be regarded as an attack on the rest. A centralized administrative structure was set up, and three major commands were established, focused on Europe, the Atlantic, and the English Channel. The admission of West Germany in 1955 led to the Soviet Union's creation of the opposing Warsaw Treaty Organization, or Warsaw Pact. France withdrew from military participation in 1966. Since NATO ground forces were smaller than those of the Warsaw Pact, the balance of power was maintained by superior weaponry, including intermediate-range nuclear weapons. After the Warsaw Pact's dissolution in 1991, NATO withdrew its nuclear weapons and attempted to refine its mission in the post-Cold War period. It involved itself in the Balkan conflicts of the 1990s. In 1999 the admission of Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic, all former Warsaw Pact members, brought the number of full members to 19.