It was created during the cold war, to stop communism from spreading and taking over other countries.
According to their own mission statement, there focus is on defending its territory and the territory of its members, while making a commitment to crisis-prevention and management in the future
NATO is an active and leading contribution to peace and security on the international stage.
Since it's trust major peace support support operation in the Balkans in the early 1990s the tempo and diversity of NATO operations increased
Today just under 100,000 military personal are engaged in NATO missions around the world successfully managing complex ground, air and naval operations in all types of environment