The North Atlantic Treaty Organization

Thesis: Although NATO provided assistance in containing the spread of communism, and its member countries applied economic pressure on the Soviet Union, neither NATO nor President Reagan should be solely credited with causing the fall of the Soviet Union and thus the end of the Cold War. Instead, it was a combination of the tough Reagan administration policies and NATO’s threatening military armory along with grave economic problems within the Soviet Union that ultimately brought the end to the Cold War.

In 1949 the US formed a mutual defense alliance with Western Europe called the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Truman had a hard time convincing Congress that this organization was necessary on account of American sentiment previously being avoidant of entangling alliances. The NATO charter pledged that an attack on one of the member nations constituted an attack on all of the members. Stalin’s aggressive actions at Berlin accelerated the American effort to use military means to contain communism. So the implementation of this alliance represented Truman’s willingness to disregard the tradition of neutrality. The Soviets also create an alliance called the Warsaw Pact countries that had the equivalent ambitions as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

In 1949, the United States signed the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) with the United Kingdom, France, Canada, and other capitalist states . Through this treaty, the countries agreed to defend each

“I believe that it must be the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures.” This declaration, made by former President Harry S. Truman on March 12, 1947, is part of the Truman Doctrine, and was the basis for U.S. involvement in Western Europe throughout the Cold War. Although the North Atlantic Treaty, and the resulting North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), was established during the Cold War “to keep the Russians out, the Americans in, and the Germans down,” NATO has persisted since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1990. This essay will seek to examine the U.S. decision to create and participate in NATO. It will begin by providing a history of NATO and the U.S. decision to participate in NATO before considering how this decision is both an instance of continuity and change in U.S. foreign policy since former President George Washington’s Farewell Address. The essay will conclude by considering the legacy of this decision and its impact on U.S. foreign policy. While this essay will consider the period of time leading up to the formation of NATO and will briefly touch on the present day, greatest consideration will be paid to the time period immediately preceding and following the formation of NATO in 1949.

The United States has been a super power for decades, and since America has always involved themselves in other countries' problems. Instead of isolationism, the country has practiced getting involved. Since the Monroe Presidency, America has been named the World's police force. Dispelling anarchists, and stopping coos, the united states portrays itself as the world protector. Since Monroe, some Americans have felt that isolation is the way to go, and most feel that it is our right to offer assistance. Two recent incidents, Operation Desert Storm and The War in Bosnia have allowed the United States to show off it's strength, both on the military and political level. It has also given the chance for America to evaluate it's foreign policy,

After World War II, during the Cold War, the United States started acting more multilaterally by forming treaties and joining groups such as NATO and the UN (Gaddis 67). This was all in an attempt to stop the spread of communism and combat the influence of the Soviet Union. The United States intervened in countries to deter them from becoming communist. They

The NATO, also known as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, was a military alliance that was created as a response to the Soviet Union becoming a threat to the United States. They believed that this alliance would provide them with support and stability and protect them from any threats that they get from the Soviet Union. Document 4 states, "The parties agree that an armed attack against one or more of them in

For years America has been seen as the world’s hero swooping in and saving the day from foreign bad guys, or at least that’s America sees itself as. To many other countries however America is often seen as the world’s bully or just a nuisance. The United States has had many positive impacts on the world and those seem to over shadow the large number of negative impacts it has imposed as well. The world has been changed by the U.S. in both positive and negative ways, and this is due to the alternating use of internationalism and isolationism. Throughout the United States’ existence both foreign polices have existed, but rarely have them been used at the came time. In the present day the U.S. has mainly focused on internationalism. This has

Throughout post-WWII history, the United States has taken on the role of the world’s police. They feel the obligation to ensure the spread of their ideals for selfish and self-righteous reasons. John Mueller and Odd Arne Westad share their arguments as to what the United States’ actions have produced during the Cold War in Eastern Europe, Korea, and Vietnam and during the post-9/11 period in the Afghanistan and Iraq. While some of their arguments are valid, others are flawed.

Amid World War I, the United States began to develop into a global power, but retreated into isolationism once the war ended. The United States’ international presence truly began to take shape after World War II. Although “there was a rapid demobilization [and] another yearning to ‘bring the boys home,’” the United States would never follow an isolationist foreign policy again. Throughout the twentieth century, the United States developed an increasingly extensive foreign policy, but it was not until the 1990s that humanitarian efforts began. These endeavors advanced the United States’ international presence – blurring the line between foreign and domestic policy. Following the conclusion of the Cold War in 1991, the United States shifted its focus to developing nations in Africa and the Middle East. Combating communism and the Soviet Union had been the United States’ utmost concern for decades, and the latter’s collapse left American foreign policy in an uncertain state. In 1992, President George H.W. Bush launched a humanitarian mission in Somalia that sought to help “restore order and get food to the Somali people.” This undertaking, which continued with President Bill Clinton, failed, with the United States’ exiting less than a year later following the deaths of eighteen American soldiers. Although this mission was unsuccessful, it marked a shift in

In April 1949, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization(NATO) was created. NATO included the United States, Canada, and several Western European nations. What NATO does is it provides collective security against the Soviet Union. In fact NATO was the first binding military alliance in America. It was so important in the

Marshall pledged to the U.S to contribute billions of dollars to help finance the economic recovery of Europe. The Marshall Plan, was extremely successful because it not only combatted the idea that capitalism was in decline and communism was rising, but it also helped aid countries to recover from the war. In an effort to decrease cold war tension the U.S created and agreed on an organization called North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) which protected the U.S and its allies against Soviet attack. Members of NATO agreed that it was one for all, meaning that if one country gets attacked it as if they are all attacked. Since the U.S paired up with its allied countries the Soviet Union did something very similar and established their own satellite nations of Eastern Europe where they formed their own alliance through the Warsaw Pact of

The inability of U.S. foreign policy to stay effective is because America has committed itself to supporting alliances that have not proven to be mutually beneficial. Foreign assistance, which is supposed to improve the well-being of recipient countries, goes directly to small coalitions. The United States, with the fear of losing its position on the global stage, has committed itself to the conundrum of regime change which often produces little result. Countries receiving foreign aid and military assistance have no incentives to build an effective bureaucracy or judicial system because these systems can represent threats to incumbents based upon local

The United States continued to use their power in Europe for their benefit. The Untied States, Canada, and ten European nations formed a mutual defense pact called NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) which an attack against one of them would be an attack against all of them, all for one, one for all. The Americans were able to keep Russia out, Untied States in, and Germany down which was perfect for them.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the United States was the unquestioned hegemon of the western world acting in a unipolar world. However, recently the United States has fallen into a series of deprival causing its reputation to fall as a state. Despite this, under the Bush Doctrine, the United States currently has a preemptive hegemonic imperative policy. Under this policy, the United States takes into account that the world is a perilous environment in need of a leader to guide and to control the various rebel states unipolarly. Under this policy though, the United States acts alone with no assistance from other states or institutions. Global intuitions that would assist under other types of policies are flagrantly disregarded in this policy in spite of its emphasis on the international level. As well as not participating in international institutions, this policy states that the United States should act entirely in its own wisdom. The UN (the United Nations), GATT (General Agreement of Tariffs and Trade), along with other institutions advice is not heeded within this self-made policy. Though the United States currently acknowledges these global organizations, it no longer takes them into account with severity. Instead of acting under the international system, the United States currently acts through its military, and large economy to instill fear within the various actors in the intercontinental system. According to this philosophy the