There's a lot of talk about the Nato's Article Five. What's it mean

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A. It means: We're all in this together.< xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

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Q.� How so

A.� Nato (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) was formed by the Washington Treaty in 1949. Article�Five stipulates that an armed attack against one or several members shall be considered as an attack against all.

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Q.� Tell me more about its formation.

A.� Nato is a military alliance created after the Second World War. It then comprised Britain, United States and 10 other western countries: Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg,�Netherlands, Norway and Portugal. The alliance was set up principally to discourage an attack by the Soviet Union on the non-Communist nations of western Europe.

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Q.� One side of the Cold War

A.� Indeed. After the Second World War ended in 1945, an intense rivalry developed between Communist countries, led by the Soviet Union, and non-Communist nations, led by the United States. In 1955, the Soviet Union and the �Communist nations of Eastern Europe - Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania - all signed the Warsaw Pact, an alliance to oppose Nato. France pulled its troops out of the Nato military command in 1965, though it remained a member. Nato's central office moved from Paris to Brussels.

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A.� Yes. Greece and Turkey joined in 1952. West Germany joined in 1955. The reunited Germany replaced West Germany as a member in 1990. Spain joined Nato in 1982. Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic joined in 1999, bringing the total to 19.

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Q.� The last three, of course, from the old Warsaw Pact. What happened to that

A.� It finished in 1991 when the Soviet Union broke apart into a number of independent states. Most of these states - and the Soviet Union's former allies in Eastern Europe - rejected communism. Other nations such as Bulgaria, Romania and Slovenia are also seeking membership.

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Q.� So what's the point of Nato after the Cold War

A.� That's what many asked. Some people felt that Nato, without its traditional Communist enemies, had lost its purpose and should be dissolved. Russia was now on the same side - so why shouldn't it join That was too much for some - but a compromise was made and a Partnership for Peace programme launched in 1994 included 20 countries, including Russia. The project provides for joint military planning and exercises with Nato, without formal membership.

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Q.� These are incredible changes, aren't they

A.� Oh yes - but not without difficulties. In the mid-1990s, for example, Nato took military action against Bosnian Serb forces to help end a civil war in the former Yugoslav republic of Bosnia-Herzegovina. This action increased tension between Nato and Russia, a traditional ally of the Serbs. However...

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Q.� There's the current war against terrorism

A.� Precisely. In the aftermath of the attack on the World Trade Center, Russia and Nato did what would have been unthinkable a decade ago. They made a joint statement: 'Nato and Russia are united in their resolve not to let those responsible for such an inhuman act to go unpunished.' They called on the international community to unite in the struggle against terrorism.

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Q.� And Article Five

A.� Lord Robertson, Nato's secretary-general, said: 'If it is determined that this attack was directed from abroad against the United States, it shall be regarded as an action covered by Article Five of the Washington Treaty.' Nato's website stresses: 'Once accepted within Nato's protective circle, each nation shares the risks, responsibilities and benefits of collective security. If one member's territory is threatened, all have pledged to come to the rescue. When it comes to defence, the Nato motto is still: One for all and all for one.'

It looks like war - and a long one.

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by Steve Cunningham