Communist NATO?

Question

Are there any countries within NATO without a democratic republic? If there are, which ones?

Answer 1

The UK, we're a democratic monarchy.
Republics are an invention of the inferior communists.

Answer 2

In November 1999, Penis Clinton visited Bulgaria, and anyone who demonstrated against him (which is the citizens' democratic right) was "hospitalized" in mental hospitals (this story was written in "Hidden Agenda-NATO in the Balkans"). "Hospitalizing" people was a tactic used by communist regimes. And it sounds weird, since among psychiatrists in the world there is Dr. Karadzic and his wife, while Penis Clinton is the opposite of this. So I have mentioned a country that had already joined NATO (what for? The Cold war is over), not to mentione the regimes of some states who want to join it.

Answer 3

If China is in the NATO, yes. Otherwise no.

Answer 4

Founding members (April 4 1949)
Belgium
Canada
Denmark
France
Iceland
Italy
Luxembourg
Netherlands
Norway
Portugal
United Kingdom
United States
Countries that joined after the initial foundation
Greece (18 February 1952)
Turkey (18 February 1952)
Germany (9 May 1955 as West Germany; Saarland united with it in 1957 and the German Democratic Republic united with it on 3 October 1990)
Spain (30 May 1982)

Former Eastern Bloc states that joined after the Cold War
March 12, 1999:

Czech Republic
Hungary
Poland
March 29, 2004:

Bulgaria
Estonia
Latvia
Lithuania
Romania
Slovakia
Slovenia

Possible NATO expansion
For the further expansion of NATO, a mechanism called MAP or Membership Action Plan was approved in the Washington Summit of 1999. Participation in MAP for a country entails the annual presentation of reports concerning its progress on five different fields:

Political and economic: Countries must demonstrate a willingness to settle international, ethnic or external territorial disputes by peaceful means as well as a commitment to the rule of law and human rights. Democratic control of their armed forces must be established.
Defence and military: This chapter focuses on the ability of the country to contribute to the Alliance's defence and missions.
Resources: This concerns the need for candidate countries to allocate enough resources to their armed forces to be able to meet the commitments of membership.
Security: Concerning the security of sensitive information, and safeguards ensuring it.
Legal issues: Ensuring the compatibility of domestic legislation with NATO cooperation.
NATO provides feedback as well as technical advice to each of the countries and evaluates their progress on an individual basis.

Currently MAPs are in implementation with the following countries:

Albania
Croatia
Republic of Macedonia
Other nations

Georgia (currently implementing IPAP). On September 21, 2006, NATO members voted to admit Georgia into the process of "Intensified Dialogue", which is the first step into the membership of NATO.
Montenegro. Montenegro has stated it's intention to join NATO's Partnership for Peace program by the end of 2006 with the eventual goal of becomming a full member of the Alliance.

Ukraine
Defence Minister of Ukraine Anatoliy Hrytsenko declared that Ukraine would have an Action Plan on NATO membership by the end of March 2006, to begin implementation by September 2006. A final decision concerning Ukraine's membership in NATO is expected to be made in 2008, with full membership possible by 2010.

The idea of Ukrainian membership in NATO has gained support from a number of NATO leaders, including President Traian Băsescu of Romania and president Ivan Gašparovič of Slovakia. The Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia, Alexander Grushko, announced however that NATO membership for Ukraine was not in Russia's best interests and wouldn't help the relations of the two countries.

Currently a majority of Ukrainian citizens oppose NATO membership. Protests have taken place by opposition blocs against the idea, and petitions signed urging the end of relations with NATO. Prime Minister Yuriy Yekhanurov has indicated Ukraine will not enter NATO as long as the public continues opposing the move. Plans for membership were shelved on September 14, 2006 due to the overwhelming disapproval of NATO membership.

Finland
Finland is participating in nearly all sub-areas of the Partnership for Peace programme, and has provided peacekeeping forces to the Afghanistan and Kosovo missions. The possibility of Finland's membership in NATO was one of the most major issues debated in relation to the Finnish presidential election of 2006.

The main contester of the presidency, Sauli Niinistö of the National Coalition Party, supported Finland joining a "more European" NATO. Fellow right-winger Henrik Lax of the Swedish People's Party likewise supported the concept. On the other side, incumbent president Tarja Halonen of the Social Democratic Party opposed changing the status quo, as did most other candidates in the election. Her victory and re-election to the post of president has currently put the issue of a NATO membership for Finland on hold for at least the duration of her term.

Other political figures of Finland who have weighed in with opinions include former President of Finland Martti Ahtisaari who has argued that Finland should join all the organisations supported by other Western democracies in order "to shrug off once and for all the burden of Finlandisation". Another former president, Mauno Koivisto, opposes the idea, arguing that NATO membership would ruin Finland's relations with Russia.

Polls in Finland indicate that the public is strongly against NATO membership.


Cooperation with non-member states

NATO member states

Partnership for Peace countries

Mediterranean Dialogue countries
Euro-Atlantic Partnership
Main articles: Partnership for Peace and Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council
A double framework has been established to help further co-operation between the 26 NATO members and 20 "partner countries".

The Partnership for Peace (PfP) programme was established in 1994 and is based on individual bilateral relations between each partner country and NATO: each country may choose the extent of its participation. The PfP programme is considered the operational wing of the Euro-Atlantic Partnership.
The Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council on the other hand was first established on 29 May 1997, and is a forum for regular co-ordination, consultation and dialogue between all 46 participants.
The 20 partner countries are the following:

Former Soviet republics:
Armenia
Azerbaijan
Belarus
Georgia
Kazakhstan
Kyrgyzstan
Moldova
Russia
Tajikistan
Turkmenistan
Ukraine
Uzbekistan
Countries that (though militarily neutral) possessed capitalist economies during the Cold War:
Austria
Finland
Ireland
Sweden
Switzerland
Nations that (though militarily neutral) possessed socialist economies during the Cold War:
Croatia
Republic of Macedonia
Albania

Malta joined PfP in 1994, but its new government withdrew in 1996. Because of this Malta is not participating in ESDP activities that use NATO assets and information.
Cyprus's admission to PfP is resisted by Turkey, because of the Northern Cyprus issue. Because of this Cyprus is not participating in ESDP activities that use NATO assets and information.
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, and Montenegro are aspirants for PfP and EAPC participation (and future full NATO membership). Their inclusion into the programme depends on implementing some reforms (in the military and political spheres) and cooperation with the ICTY.

International Partnership Action Plans
Launched at the November 2002 Prague Summit, Individual Partnership Action Plans (IPAPs) are open to countries that have the political will and ability to deepen their relationship with NATO.

Currently IPAPs are in implementation with the following countries:

Azerbaijan (27 May 2005)
Armenia (16 December 2005)
Under development are IPAPs with the following countries:

Moldova
Kazakhstan

Mediterranean Dialogue:
The Mediterranean Dialogue, first launched in 1994 is a forum of cooperation between NATO and seven countries of the Mediterranean:

Algeria
Egypt
Israel
Jordan
Mauritania
Morocco
Tunisia
NATO-Russian Federation Council
Main article: NATO-Russia Council
NATO and Russian Federation made a reciprocal commitment in 1997 "to work together to build a stable, secure and undivided continent on the basis of partnership and common interest."

In May 2002, this commitment was strengthened with the establishment of the NATO-Russia Council, which brings together the NATO members and Russia. The purpose of this council is to identify and pursue opportunities for joint action with the 27 participants as equal partners.

Other partners
In April 2005, Australia signed a security agreement with NATO on enhancing intelligence cooperation in the fight against terrorism. Australia also posted a defence attache to NATO's headquarters. Cooperation with Japan, El Salvador, South Korea and New Zealand was also announced as priority.Israel is currently a Mediterranean Dialogue country and has been recently seeking to expand its relationship with NATO. The first visit by a head of NATO to Israel occurred on 23 February - 24 February 2005 [48] and the first joint Israel-NATO naval exercise occurred on 27 March 2005. In May of the same year Israel was admitted to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly. Israeli troops also took part in NATO exercises in June 2005.

There have been advocates for the NATO membership of Israel, among them the former Prime Minister of Spain José María Aznar and Italian Defence Minister Antonio Martino. However Secretary-General of the organisation Jaap de Hoop Scheffer has dismissed such calls, saying that membership for Israel is not on the table. Martino himself said that a membership process could only come after an Israeli request; such a request has not taken place.

Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom stated in February 2005 that his country was looking to upgrade its relationship with NATO from a dialogue to a partnership, but that it was not seeking membership, saying that "NATO members are committed to mutual defence and we don't think we are in a position where we can intervene in other struggles in the world," and also that "We don't see that NATO should get engaged in our conflict here in the Middle East."

The issue of Israel's potential membership again came to the forefront in early 2006 after heightened tensions between Israel and Iran. Former Prime Minister of Spain José María Aznar argued that Israel should become a member of the organisation alongside Japan and Australia, saying that "So far, expansion of NATO was an attempt at the growth and consolidation of democratic change in the former communist countries. Now it is time to do the opposite, to expand toward those democratic nations that are committed to the struggle against our common enemy and ready to contribute to the common effort to free ourselves from it."
Aznar also proposed a strategic co-operation with India and Colombia.