Immediately after the World Wars, nations faced severe apprehensions of other wars. In fact, they were anxious about witnessing other wars that would impart people with unforgettable memories. Therefore, making war prevention measures was critical and inevitable. Over the decade, the globe deployed various strategies to cater to the issue of insecurity in Europe and some American countries, especially those who took arms in the world wars. Although the union was founded in America, it was predominantly intended to cater to peace issues in Europe. For instance, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was formed to prevent further insecurity. NATO was formed in 1949 by various states; Canada, the United States, and other European countries intended to secure the Soviet Union and marked the first military alliance for the United States to enter, especially in the Western hemisphere (North Atlantic Treaty Organization NATO, 1949). Besides, the alliance was to secure and promote freedom among its member states and initiate cooperation on issues of globalization.
The Berlin crisis, which occurred at the genesis of 1949, took a central position in shaping NATO as a military alliance. Moreover, the issue catalyst the formation of the alliance. Prior to the 1940s, American politicians and European strategists and activists were eager to respond to the military strength and political issues of the USSR, a strategy that was performed in two phases (North Atlantic Treaty Organization NATO, 1949). Initially, they concluded that the USSR’s security was worse during those reigns. In that matter, they wanted to sabotage them and create a military alliance to initiate military security in the region. By creating the alliance, the globe witnessed a great revolution, particularly between European nations as well as the United States. The aftermath event of the iron curtain made Europeans alienated in the West. In such a situation, European nations had the dilemma of needing help handling their issues. Therefore, Americans agreeing to collaborate with them in forming NATO terminated their long mentalities of isolation.
The alliance was founded on various strategies, such as political strategies. In four decades, NATO was predominantly occupied with forming and delineating a multinational system of bipolar confrontation focused on mutual tensions and indirect confrontation instead of mere cooperation. This issue affected NATO and the Warsaw pact, which had subsequent repercussions. Therefore, in this regard, NATO applied both military and political strategies. The noteworthy aim of the pro-longed political strategy was to strengthen cooperation among the member states and other global nations. The alliance grew to cater to other nations, like Germany, that was included in 1956. The by-laws and laws of the member states strictly guided the alliance.
Like other alliances, NATO had unique features that set it apart from other previous alliances. For instance, from its initial formation, NATO was a security agency of several states whose political elites marched in anticipation of mutual peace and intended to collaborate in tackling insecurity issues (North Atlantic Treaty Organization NATO, 1949). The alliance included both winners and losers of the world wars regardless of the positions they took in the wars. All the members’ states were intentioned to have various basics, mutual respect of needs and shared values, and be open to issues pertaining to the alliance.
However, the political strategy was applied variedly in diverse sectors the alliance was engaged in, like the field of economics. For instance, the alliance was eager to abolish diversities in core economic relations, particularly while looking for mutually accepted initials in cost-sharing burdens for collaborative defense. Moreover, the alliance was more engaged in upturning economic cooperation on a bilateral and multilateral basis, developing state economies for all participants, on paving aid for economically weak states. Alternatively, they held occasional resolving meetings, mainly through consultation.
The alliance also incorporated a military strategy that became deterrence based on US opinions that war crises in Europe, its western hemisphere would not be liberated but be defended on its accounts. Therefore, the opinions became a strategy for the alliance and depended on it for its entire period and still depends on it (Robinson-Freeman et al., 2020). The military strategy is enormously based on two features; the most vital and most influential member must come from outside Europe, and the strength and deterrent credibility of the alliance is dependent on programs that the United States is the strongest on nuclear weapons and air power.
Over the decades, NATO has progressed to cater to issues of the arms race. Courtesy of developed countries and funds, NATO has increased its military resources’ size and quality and gained a significant political superiority. In fact, the issues between the United States and the Soviet Union have marked the most significant arms race in universal history. According to Timothy (2019), the alliance has a solid adherence to micro and macro policies of arms control, nonproliferation, and disarmament. The alliance has been persistent in pursuing its security goals through this sanction. It ensures merged defense obligations are attained and missions are achieved simultaneously (Timothy, 2019). Notably, the alliance collaborates with other alliances, such as United Nations and European Union, to advocate for the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
In conclusion, the formation of NATO has played a pivotal role in preventing the emergence of other wars. Although the alliances were formed due to the impacts of prior severe global wars, they have predominantly catered to peace issues. The alliance has not only catered to war crises but other issues, like the economy of the member states in conducts like globalization.
References
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). (1949). North Atlantic Treaty. https://www.nato.int/nato_static_fl2014/assets/pdf/history_pdf/20161122_E1-founding-treaty-original-tre.pdf
Timothy A. S. (2019). Enduring Alliance : A History of NATO and the Postwar Global Order. CornellUniversityPress.https://ezproxy.snhu.edu/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=2084010&site=eds-live&scope=site&ebv=EB&ppid=pp_11
Yost, D. S. (2015). The Budapest Memorandum and Russia’s intervention in Ukraine. International Affairs, 91(3), 505-538.
Robinson-Freeman, K. E., Collins, K. L., Garber, B., Terblanche, R., Risling, M., Vermetten, E. & Tsao, J. W. (2020). A decade of mTBI experience: what have we learned? A summary of proceedings from a NATO lecture series on military mTBI. Frontiers in neurology, 11, 836.
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