NATO stands for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and is a military group started by the United States of America that consists of fifteen other countries including Canada, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Turkey, and the United Kingdom. “By the time Truman was inaugurated as President in January of 1949, the Cold War was intensifying. Using this tension to his advantage, Truman had campaigned on a platform that gave his future foreign policy a key role.
Indeed, he focused on the differences between Communism and democracy, presenting the Communist Bloc as a credible but unpredictable military threat. Americans thus feared the Soviet Union and were ready to take protective measures. Within three months of Truman’s inauguration, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) agreement was signed in Washington DC… AS NATO’s strength and mandate grew, it became increasingly threatening to the USSR. Stalin referred to NATO as an ‘aggressive nucleus of power,’” (Schaff 1,2). So as you can see NATO was a very important part of our country and still is today.
All countries affiliated with NATO are treated the same. They all basically see themselves as equals and treat every country with great respect. “It was a mutual military assistance treaty, stipulating that if one of these above listed countries were attacked, the others would come to its aid” (Schaff 2). And being the most powerful member of NATO, the United States has included new branches of the organization including the North Atlantic Council which holds the highest authority, Allied Command Atlantic, Allied Command Channel, and Allied Command Europe which has been thought of as the core of NATO.
Yes, NATO has done so many great things for our world but they can’t be perfect. What used to seem so simple in making every country feel like an equal is failing right now and Europe is not happy about it. “Although NATO is an alliance of equals, with consensus as its core decision making principle, the organization functions and matters only to the degree that the United States remains engaged. The security policy goals of the United States are a key variable for NATO. The Alliance’s future viability depends on whether the Europeans will share American priorities and accept the attendant risks. Today, one must ask to what extent NATO contributes to those goals and where it has fallen short” (Michta 1). Many of these European countries are taking sides not of the United States and this is really hurting their Alliance, for example the United States has a certain strategy for minimizing Islamist terrorism that countries such as France and Germany do not agree with one bit. But it looks like everything is working out for the best and NATO might actually be expanding again. “The United States’ choice to foster NATO enlargement was essential in helping overcome the divisions of the Cold War era. From the start of NATO enlargement, American policy drove the evolution of NATO to a much greater extent than the policies of any other ally. Enlargement reflected expectations that the norm-setting aspect of the Alliance and NATO’s role as a community of values would suffice to reconstitute and sustain it as a viable security organization into the twenty-first century” (Michta 2). Even though the other countries of NATO don’t always agree with the United States, they wouldn’t be where they are today without them. The more the Alliance expands, the stronger they become.
So far, it has been stated that NATO does have its ups and downs, but the real question is what’s next for NATO? The two most important issues that they are dealing with right now are whether or not they should be putting more troops in Afghanistan, and a possible expansion into Russia. Right now, NATO is 2500 troops short in Afghanistan and they don’t know if it is a wise decision to be bringing even more people over there. NATO was feeling hopeless for a while but it seems that there is new hope. “The commander, Gen. James L. Jones, said the alliance’s summit meeting last month in Riga, Latvia, led members of the alliance to pledge aid to NATO partners whose troops were in danger, even if the day-to-day rules of some countries restricted offensive operations… The general… said Poland had pledged to add 1,000 troops to the mission” (Shanker 1). Another problem that has come up is that NATO wants to expand into Russia. This is a problem because since the Cold War ended and the Warsaw Pact is no longer in existence the Clinton administration built a new security alliance and told Russia that it could not be a member of NATO. Now that NATO wants to expand into their region, Russia is anything but happy. “Foreign policy experts are still trying to parse Vladimir Putin’s weekend blast against America which he described as a brutish country that ‘has overstepped its national borders, in every area’” (Friedman 1). Because Russia has become so powerful in the oil and gas area we won’t know for a while whether or not their will be another expansion of NATO. Even though this would be a great thing for the organization, Russia won’t be backing down anytime soon.
In conclusion, NATO has been a great source of power for our world. Without the United States there is no way that NATO would be what it is today and many are thankful to us for that. NATO has done so much for the world and will continue to do so. Even though some think that NATO has worn out its welcome, we can assure you that NATO is here to stay.
Friedman, Thomas L. “Putin Pushes Back.” New York Times 14 Feb.2007, late ed.
Michta, Andrew A. “What Next for NATO?” Orbis 2007
Schaff, Marta. “North Atlantic Treaty Organization.” 2005, p1
Shanker, Thom. “Leaving NATO, U.S General Still Seeks Troops for Afghanistan.” New York Times 21 Dec. 2006, late ed.
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