The Possibility of a Role for NATO in International Relations
When NATO was founded in 1949, it had a clearly defined role. It was
an alliance for collective security against the USSR and the Warsaw
Pact, whereby if one member state was attacked, the rest would come to
her aid under article 5. Since the fall of the Soviet Union and the
end of the Cold War, however, the role of NATO has become a great deal
less clearly defined, since its members no longer really have any need
for a defensive alliance. Indeed, operations such as those in Bosnia
and Kosovo have suggested that for from being a defensive alliance,
NATO may have some kind of future as an offensive alliance. There are
also now doubts, however, over whether the futures of Europe and the
United States are bound together as they were during the Cold War, and
many European countries now pursue radically different, more
pacifistic foreign policies to that of America. Many people now fell,
therefore, that NATO is nothing more than an anachronistic hangover
from the Cold War with no real future. Others would say, however, that
organisations such as NATO and the UN are still crucial in the modern
world to ensure that countries do not act unilaterally, but co-operate
with allies. It is first perhaps worth considering in what way NATO's
role in the modern world is changing.
As has already been said, NATO may no longer really be viewed as a
defensive organisation. This is not to say that it no longer has a
credible role, however, and many would argue that it can be used as a
useful tool in solving international problems. There are several
examples of this suggestion in action. For in...
... middle of paper ...
...is an alliance of such different
interests will mean that it's future survival is highly dubious. As
Nicholas Burns, the US Ambassador to NATO, said recently, 'the EU's
push for greater military autonomy [poses] the most significant threat
to NATO's future.'
Thus there is still a role for NATO in the modern world, although this
role has shifted from being defensive to being offensive, as above
examples have shown. The question now must be, then, whether NATO can
function effectively has an organisation in the coming years. Many
would say that the polarising effect of America's aggressive foreign
policy under George Bush and the recent expansion or the organisation
Eastwards towards Russian borders will mean that NATO will cease to
have a role in the future, since it is now a body which such
conflicting interests.
In the book entitled Canada, NATO and The Bomb: The Western Alliance in Crisis by Tom Keating and Larry Pratt the main issue discussed was Canada’s position in Europe, North America and their view on the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It went into specific issues dealing with political tension within Canada and tension outside Canada with other countries. It went through the years of different political parties and how they dealt with the matters of NATO.
The author doesn’t forget to mention the relationship between USA and NATO. He thinks that Americans welcome NATO as a weapon for America’s affairs, not of the world’s. In his final words, it is suggested that either Europe should invite USA to leave NATO or Europe should expel America from it.
The major factor that led to the true end of the Cold War was the ongoing personal and diplomatic relationship between Presidents George H. Bush and Mikhail Gorbachev. This resulted in the reduction of the Russian military and favorable arms agreements. Key indicators of the substance behind this relationship were the Soviet troop withdrawals from Czechoslovakia, Afghanistan, and Hungary (lifting the Hungarian/Austrian “Iron Curtain” along the border). Subsequently the opening of the Berl...
At the NATO Prague Summit of 21-22 November 2002, member nations agreed to make changes to ensure that the alliance remained a central mechanism for meeting its members' security needs. This involved expanding the organization with new members, enhancing relationships with NATO's partner countries and giving the alliance new capabilities. Canada has participated in every NATO mission since the alliance's creation. In recent years Canada has funded about 5.9 per cent of NATO’s
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is an alliance of 26 countries from North America and Europe committed to fulfilling the goals of the North Atlantic Treaty signed on April 4 1949. The fundamental goal of NATO is to safeguard the freedom and security of its member countries by political and military means. NATO links North America and Europe by providing a forum in which the United States, Canada and European countries can consult together on security issues of common concern and take joint action in addressing them.
The goal at the end of WWII was prevent further disputes that splashed over a global playing field. Thought to be a goal within reach, it just wasn’t possible. Not even five years later had the Cold War commenced. A war “marked by ideological hostilities and a daunting arms race, [the Cold War] was chiefly between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies” (Goff 282). This global war induced many effects in Europe and East Asia, from division of lands, struggling economies to a massive power struggle for influence. The Cold war was a wrinkle in time that created similarities despite having dissimilar experiences relating to land divisions, economic strife and power struggles.
The end of the Cold War was one of the most unexpected and important events in geopolitics in the 20th century. The end of the Cold War can be defined as the end of the bipolar power struggle between the United States and the Soviet Union, which had existed since the end of the World War II. The conclusion of the Cold War can be attributed to Gorbachev’s series of liberalizations in the 1980s, which exposed the underlying economic problems in the Soviet Union and Eastern bloc states that had developed in the 1960s and 70s and prevented the USSR from being able to compete with the US as a superpower. Nevertheless, Reagan’s policies of a renewed offensive against communism, Gorbachev’s rejection of the Brezhnev doctrine and the many nationalities
The Cold War subsisted as a forty year, or in light of alternate perspectives- perpetuating, conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union. Following the conclusion of World War II, the capitali...
(1) After the end of World War II, all involved countries, with no exception of being victorious or defeated, have started seeking of the prevention of a new disaster by reconstructing and maintaining the security and peace primarily in Europe. All huge and disastrous events (such as World Wars) which affected whole world were originated from the uncomfortable conditions and conflicts in the continent. Thus the main task was to settle a mechanism that would eliminate any emerging threat against the continental security and maintain the order and peace. For this purpose, in 1949 West European countries established the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in order to protect the member countries against any possible attack which was primarily expected from the East European Countries led by the Soviet Union. During the Cold War, NATO’s primary goal was to circumvent any aggression held by the iron-curtain countries. Military deterrence (by developing high-tech and nuclear weapons and locating them to the eastern frontier of the Alliance, Germany and Turkey) was the main strategy in preventing any large-scale attack from the Soviet Union and other Warsaw Pact countries. By the end of Cold War many debates were made and still is going on whether the Alliance completed its mission in the territory. In spite of all, The North Atlantic Treaty has continued to guarantee the security of its member countries ever since. Today, following t...
The United Nations and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization are two different groups, but they affect the world in the same way. They both want to make a difference in today's world, they strive for peace and prosperity, and they work hard to accomplish their goals.
The end of the Second World War brought about great change in the world. This was especially true in Europe, where some battles left areas completely devastated. With Hitler regime fallen, it was clear the leaders of not only European nations but other nations like the United States wanted to change the structure of land that was once occupied by the Nazi army. The U.S. and Western Bloc would be in a chess match over this land with the Soviet Union and the Western Bloc. This chess match is better known as the Cold War. The following paragraphs will discuss how this war where no blood was shed played out throughout Europe. These paragraphs will examine and provide examples of how the Cold War created a new a set of geopolitical, social and economic relationships throughout the continent as well as which of these factors was of most importance.
The Cold War did not directly involve Europe, but Europe and its various states were key players and key sources of tension between the two great powers, the USSR and the United States of America. The dates of the beginning and end of the Cold War are debated but 1947-1991 is generally agreed upon. In this paper, I will attempt to outline the events of the Cold War which were relevant to Europe and how this affected European integration and relations. ‘Integration’ here refers to the process of transferring powers of decision-making and implantation from national to supranational level. Europe was weakened after World War Two, especially in contrast with the USSR and the USA. Traditional European hegemony was at an end and Europe had to find a new dynamic without becoming involved in conflict with the two new superpowers.
The Cold War was a time between 1947 to 1991 in which tensions between two of the largest superpowers of the world were at an all time high: United State of America and the Soviet Union. The war never had a true battlefield between the two, but traces of each the superpowers could be found in many of the wars at the time directly or indirectly like: the Vietnam War, Korean War, and etc. Though the feud didn’t always happen on the battleground. The Soviet Union and United States faced off in expanding their power of their technology and economy at the time, which led to events like the Space Race, Nuclear Arms Race, and even globalization in the countries. Some of the new technologies like computers, space shuffles, and satellites were just some
NATO is an intergovernmental military alliance between the two continents of Europe and America which is formed to safeguard the peace and security developing a link among t...
Curtis, B., & Linser, W. (2004). NATO and EU Enlargement: Challenges for the New Europe . University of Washington. Retrieved December 10, 2013, from: http://jsis.washington.edu/cwes/file/nato_and_eu_curriculum.pdf