Context:

• Colombia would be formally joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) next week. The announcement was made by the country’s President Juan Manuel Santos on May 25, 2018.
• With the move, Colombia will become the first Latin American nation to be a part of the alliance. It would be joining the bloc as a ‘global partner’, which means it will not necessarily have to take part in any joint military action and will be fully accredited in Brussels.

Background:

• The NATO alliance comprising 29 member nations reached a partnership agreement with Colombia in May 2017, following the signing of a peace deal with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc).
• The historic peace deal with the leftist rebels from Farc had earned Colombian President Santos a Nobel Peace Prize.

Other Global Partners:

• The other global partner nations of NATO include Afghanistan, Australia, Iraq, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Mongolia, New Zealand and Pakistan.
• The partnership with Colombia will include cooperation on global security areas such as cyber and maritime security, terrorism and links to organised crime.
• The announcement of Colombia’s partnership with NATO came just hours after the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) approved Colombia as a new member.
• The partnership will enable Colombia to have a bigger role on the international stage.

About NATO:

• The North Atlantic Treaty Organization is an intergovernmental military alliance between nations from North America and Europe.
• It was established through the North Atlantic Treaty, which was signed in Washington D.C on April 4, 1949.
• The alliance provides a unique link between the member nations, enabling them to consult and cooperate in the field of defence and security, conduct multinational crisis-management operation, build trust and in the long run, prevent conflict.
• The organisation is committed to the principle of collective defence, according to which an attack against one or several of its members will be considered as an attack against all.
• The principle is a part of Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty. So far, the article has been invoked once – in response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the United States in 2001.