Here Are 6 Of NATO's Worst Crises In 70 Years

A Polish army PT-91 tank during NATO exercise Silver Arrow 2017 in Latvia. Ints Kalnins/Reuters

Business Insider: These are 6 of NATO's worst crises in 70 years as the world's most powerful military alliance

* During the Cold War, NATO effectively defended Western Europe with US nuclear weapons.
* Twelve countries signed the North Atlantic Treaty in 1949, and NATO has since grown to 29 countries, including former Soviet states bordering Russia, which has angered Moscow.
* Here are six occasions, from the building of the Berlin Wall to the September 11 attacks, that NATO faced a crisis.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, a pact launched 70 years ago in the ashes of World War II to face Stalin's Soviet threat and bind Western Europe and the US together, is the world's foremost military alliance.

The success of its deterrent power can be seen in a simple reality: NATO's first combat mission only came after the Soviet Union's collapse.

During the Cold War, NATO effectively defended Western Europe with US nuclear weapons, as NATO's office of the historian notes.

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WNU Editor: A reminder that the Cold War was not a pleasant experience for all who had to live under it.