An Examination of NATO - USA Relations

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An Examination of NATO - USA Relations

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 Europ...

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...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.

Sources:

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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