NATO: HISTORY & DEVELOPMENT.   Term Paper ID:26337 Click to get this paper

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Paper Abstract: Explores nine historical perspectives on goals, accomplishments, effectiveness, changing roles & future of organization. Paper Introduction: The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, NATO, is more in the news in mid-1999 than it has been in many years, perhaps in its history. The 50th anniversary of the organization, expected to be an occasion for celebration, the admission of three new members, and only subdued discussion of the alliance's future, turned out instead to be a strategy session for its first shooting war. The outcome of the Kosovo war will surely, in one way or another, play a central role in shaping the future of NATO, but it is all the more appropriate to consider its first half-century. The following essay explores nine historical perspectives, offered by eight different writers, on the history and development of NATO. Lawrence Kaplan, in "After forty years: reflections on NATO as a research field," reflects back from the perspective of c. Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. This option, however,soon became unviable, and the former Warsaw Pact states soon turned to NATOas the remaining means of ensuring that Germany would remain within adefined role. NATO:The Founding of the Atlantic Alliance and the Integration of Europe.New York: St. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, NATO, is more in the news inmid-1999 than it has been in many years, perhaps in its history. The power vacuum that has led to such violent eruption in the Balkansextended potentially throughout Eastern Europe at the beginning of the199 s. These same themes, with particular attention to the French role, arepursued by I.M. The Birth of NATO. (1966). (1995). 16).This outlook, one might suggest, applied not only to scholars but toAmericans in general; opinions of U.S. This divergence of interests between the US and France would,by the 196 s, lead to the French withdrawal from the military structure ofNATO. More broadly, theFrench policy underlined the role of Europe as an entity independent of,though in alliance with, the United States. Under Kennedy, this policy was shifted to"flexible response," scaled to the level of threat, and includingconventional and tactical nuclear options. L. In Henderson's view, the prime mover wasBritish foreign minister Ernest Bevin (Henderson, 1982, pp. Beaufre restates the European origins of NATO (1966, pp. 61-63). Wall in "France and the North Atlantic Alliance." Wall,like Kaplan, begins by taking to task the parochialism of American views ofNATO. Martin's, pp. This paucity of American historical consideration of NATO, hesuggests, reflected an outlook in which NATO was seen as merely anincidental aspect of overall American global policy. Martin's, pp.45-56.----------------------- 1 But, as Graebner rather prophetically notes, the status of EasternEurope remained unresolved, and the uncertainty was thrown into higherrelief by the sudden collapse of the Soviet bloc. (1998). 141-2). The great remaining concern then is the role of Russia itself.According to Solomon, "It is self-evident that there can be no security inEurope and NATO as a whole without Russia... The same theme is developed by a British diplomat, Sir NicholasHenderson, in his book The Birth of NATO. 411). NATO: The Founding of the Atlantic Allianceand the Integration of Europe. The implicit risk, in Maier's view, isagain that the US would draw its defensive line at the Atlantic, leavingcontinental Europe out in the cold. In an early state this led to interest in a European DefenseCouncil. In Miller,F.H.; and Gillingham, J.R., eds. It is impossible to test either of these alternate-historicalspeculations. 45). "It was Soviet dominanceof east Central Europe," Graebner writes, "that terminated that region'sbitter irredentist conflict that have led to two world wars in this century... 4 3). The theme of French perspectives is taken up by General Andre Beaufrein NATO and Europe. N.A. 18). The French thus had to play a delicate balance between the US andGermany. 4 3-12.Solomon, G.B. (1992). An alternate speculative view, however, is presented byW. Maier, in "The Anglo-Saxon triangle, the French and WesternEuropean integration," presents a complementary view of the French role inNATO in the 195 s and 196 s. The contribution of historians to the enormous body of NATOliterature has been minimal" (Kaplan, 1992, p. What comes out in this work, as in Kaplan's, is aEurocentric view of NATO's origins, again in startling contrast to theconventional American perception. 46). At the beginning of the 199 s, Solomon observes, it was not aforegone conclusion that the Warsaw Pact would evaporate: "It was not justthe Soviet Union and some other allies that sought to preserve the WarsawPact" (Solomon, 1998, p. foreign policy might be deeplydivided in that immediately post-Vietnam era, but NATO too was regarded asAmerican, not as a distinct entity in which non-US participation wasconsequential. Even Poland for a time was ready to haveRussian forces remain as a counterweight to Germany. 33). Hixson in "NATO and the Soviet bloc: the limits of victory." Hixsonsuggests that the formation of NATO led to, or at least reinforced, alocking-in and institutionalization of the sharp lines that fell acrossEurope in the late 194 s. 199 on the stateof scholarly discussion of NATO as it stood in 1974, on the occasion ofNATO's 25th anniverary, when the alliance was just half its present age.As the first "entangling alliance" entered into by the United States sinceits brief 18th century alignment with France, writes Kaplan, "NATO shouldhave been a magnet for American historians. The 5 thanniversary of the organization, expected to be an occasion forcelebration, the admission of three new members, and only subdueddiscussion of the alliance's future, turned out instead to be a strategysession for its first shooting war. The following essay explores nine historical perspectives,offered by eight different writers, on the history and development of NATO. Martin's, pp. 2 ). NATO and Europe. In "NATO after forty-five years: a counterfactual history," LawrenceKaplan, the first author discussed in this essay, offers speculative viewsas to what might have happened had NATO never been formed. This French independence annoyed ageneration of American policymakers, but the current active role of Francein NATO suggests that, as Maier proposes, the French decision was a soundone in the long run. But it touches sonearly on historical issues as to be appropriate for consideration in thisessay. 46). In mid-1999, this question remains in the balance, though Russia's choice to actas peacemaker in Kosovo, rather than semi-co-belligerent with Serbia (towhich it has close traditional ties) suggests that partnership in some formremains possible. TheEuropean, and particularly French, concern was that the US would follow a"peripheral strategy," drawing its defensive line at the Pyrenees and theEnglish Channel, leaving most of Western Europe potentially to its fate.Thus, while "American and French views on the alliance differed seriously,"according to Wall, "the building of an Atlantic alliance was nevertheless afundamental French foreign policy objective, and corresponded to aspecifically French diplomatic initiative" (Wall, 1992, p. Lawrence Kaplan, in "After forty years: reflections on NATO as aresearch field," reflects back from the perspective of c. In Papacosma, S.V.; and Heiss, M.A., eds. His work is in fact derived from notes Henderson took at the time, inthe late 194 s. By the early 195 s, according to Wall, Americans were pressing forGerman rearmament, something viewed with greatest reluctance by the French,and--foreshadowing the disasterous American experience in Vietnam--for aFrench military victory in Indochina at a time when the French had grownwar-weary. NATO after forty-five years: a counterfactualhistory. ReferencesBeaufre, A. 23-38.Kaplan, L.S. So much was this the case, Kaplan observes, that out of deference toCongressional and public sentiment, "Europe" was hardly mentioned in theNorth Atlantic treaty (Kaplan, 1992, p. "Paris withdrew from the EDC inorder to retain her position and participate in the North Atlantic TreatyAlliance. K.A. Although he does not express it in these terms, Hixsonimplicitly speculates that, under different circumstances, a figure likeKrushchev might have played the role of a Gorbachev or even a Yeltsin.Instead, due to the hardening of lines on both sides in the 195 s,"liberalization, and ultimately the collapse of Communist regimes, came tothe region more than thirty years later" (Hixson, 1995, p. Martin's, pp. vii). 8). Although his focus has proven to be furthersouth, just this issue has arisen explosively at the end of the 199 s. (1982). NATO in the Post-ColdWar Era: Does it Have a Future? New York: St. In my opinion European union is the prerequisite to areunion with the United States (Beaufre, 1966, p. New York: St. The creation of an independentFrench nuclear force was thus in his view necessary, to cast uncertainty ona balance otherwise "too stable" (Beaufre, 1966, p. "For most students ofthe Cold War at the time, whether identified as "court historian" or "newleft," the framing of the North Atlantic Treaty was a minor matter,subsumed under the major break from isolationism" (Kaplan, 1992, p. TheFrench, however, played an equally crucial role, in pressing for a directUS role on the continent: "The French ambassador harped upon the necessityfor immediate American military assistance for the Brussels Powers"(Henderson, 1982, p. But this was not the case in1974. This attitude, indeed, remains very much alive today; thepolitical divisions over the Kosovo war might be startling to a timetraveler from 1974, but it is regarded as an American war, not a NATO war. Green, trans. As Wall rather tartly observes, "these interpretations all shed lighton one or another of American motives, but they all fail to consider theEuropean pressures in favor of an alliance" (Wall, 1992, p. In Miller, F.H.;and Gillingham, J.R., eds. 6). (Beaufre, 1966, pp. As Hendersonwrites, A case-study of the processes surrounding a highly important eventsuch as the negotiation of the North Atlantic Treaty may, if it setsout objectively the facts--the power equation at the time, the pressuresand personalities involved--remind one of the immutability of certaintruths governing international affairs. New York: Knopf.Graebner, N.A. "Whether or not any ofthese visions of Armageddon--some of them contradictory--bear anyresemblence to reality," writes Kaplan, "it is reasonable to assume in anycounterfactual historical study that both Europe and America would havefaced a more difficult future than they did under the aegis of NATO"(Kaplan, 1995, p. NATO might be described as a strictly defensive alliance, but fromthe Soviet point of view it was naturally viewed as specifically an anti-Soviet alliance, and its presence encouraged soviet policy to develop alongconfrontational lines, even if alternatives might have been possible asearly as the 195 s. 14 ). 432). 434). there is no reason to believe that Eastern Europe, freed of Sovietcontrol, will live contentedly within its present boundaries for very long"(Graebner, 1992, p. The book was written in 1982, atthe time of one of NATO's proclaimedly recurrent crises. New York: St. The NATO Enlargement Debate, 199 -1997:Blessings of Liberty. One option, that in fact chosen, has been for NATO to expandeastward to fill it, as is discussed by former Congressman Gerald Solomonin The NATO Enlargement Debate, 199 -1997. The Anglo-Saxon triangle, the French and WesternEuropean integration. The decision to build up an atomic arsenal revealed thatintegration was a necessary fiction to prevent West German rearmament fromdamaging Europe" (Maier, 1992, p. (1992). Beaufre approaches the question of NATO from the perspective ofEuropean integration, a persistent theme of postwar French thought anddiplomacy. The outcome of the Kosovo war willsurely, in one way or another, play a central role in shaping the future ofNATO, but it is all the more appropriate to consider its first half-century. Revisionist historians took the opposite track, stressing analleged American offensive designed at once to consolidate Washington'ssphere of influence in the West and pursue an aggressive policydesigned to loosen the Soviet grip on its area of hegemony in the East(Wall, 1992, p. 3 ). In the 195 s, American policy had been based on"massive retaliation," an all-or-nothing response by the US nuclear forcesto any serious aggression. "A hardening of positions on both sidescharacterized the period following the implementation of NATO" (Hixson,1995, p. Faced with these double constraints, the French found anindependent nuclear force the only option. Reflections at a turning point. Westport, CT: Praeger.Wall, I.M. France and the North Atlantic Alliance. J. 3-21.Maier, K.A. Our goal must be to preventinertia and a psychology of "doomed to coexistence" from taking the placeof real partnership and cooperation" (Solomon, 1998, p. NATO was not a creature of US Cold War policy;instead it was a creation of Europeans, into which the US was at firstdrawn reluctantly, and throughout its history European as much as Americanconcerns have shaped its growth and evolution. In view of this pervasive American outlook, it is startling to learnthat in Kaplan's view, NATO was essentially a European initiative,initially entered into only reluctantly by the United States. In Papacosma, S.V.; and Heiss, M.A., eds. (1992). 85). NATO: The Founding of the AtlanticAlliance and the Integration of Europe. Certainly an observer from mid-century,looking back on a world riven by two great wars that originated from intra-European rivalries, might well be astonished to find how unified a force"the West" has proven to be in the second half of this century. Martin's, pp. He suggests that "NATO's contribution to thesuccess of European civilization during the past forty years comprised notonly its role in defense but also its symbolic demonstration of thecultural and political unity of Western civilization in the twentiethcentury" (Graebner, 1992, p. NATO:The Founding of the Atlantic Alliance and the Integration of Europe.New York: St. "What the French had notbargained for was the unprecedented degree of leverage all this gaveWashington in influencing the conduct of French affairs" (Wall, 1992, p.54). 15-23.________ (1995). After forty years: reflections on NATO as aresearch field. What is clear from all the works considered above, however,is that the development of NATO is a more complex process than mostAmericans may have assumed. 38), in contrast to the more distant role initiallyassumed by American policymakers. (1992). Thus, "the impetus for enlargement came largely from the newdemocracies of Central Europe." (Solomon, 1998, p. Written in 1966, this work is not strictly historical;rather it is an apologia for French views at the time. To this was joined concern overgrowing German strength (Maier, 1992, p. New York: St. 15-16), andthen goes on to present the uneasy European views of developments inAmerican nuclear strategy. To Beaufre, An Atlantic community with the United States is withoutquestion a reasonable and desireable idea, but this community would bevery dangerous if it were effected under present conditions, with adivided Europe. But NATO itself proved overly dominated by theUnited States. This idea was stillborn, however, since such a force would bedominated by West Germany. In Miller, F.H.; and Gillingham, J.R., eds. NATO in the Post-ColdWar Era: Does it Have a Future? "In essence,the British and French, having put together a 5 -year treaty with theBenelux countries, expected the United States to join it" (Kaplan, 1992, p.18). NATO and the Soviet bloc: the limits ofvictory. 15). The traditional historiographical view of NATO interpreted it as aresponse to a perceived military threat to the West by superior Sovietforces. He notes a 1951 Canadian policy paper whichrefered to a nuclear "inner triangle," of the US, Canada, and Britain,taking form in contrast to the core European triangle of France, Italy,West Germany (Maier, 1992, p. ix; 113). The scenarios(not one unified alternate history) range from the Finlandization ofScandinavia, to a Communist Italy, to a France forced into alliance withthe USSR to restrain a resurgent neo-Nazi Germany. In Miller, F.H.; and Gillingham, J.R., eds. This, in Kaplan's view, onlyunderlines his central thrust of NATO as a European creation. Beaufre approves of much in Kennedy's strategy, but flexible responsewas alarming for Europe, holding out the specter of a war fought withWestern Europe as nuclear battlefield, while the nuclear superpowers sparedeach other. 431-35.Henderson, N. 4 5). London: Weidenfeld andNicolson.Hixson, W.L. This French success, however, had an unanticipated result: Americaninfluence in Europe rose to a level that previous generations on eitherside of the Atlantic could not have imagined. Martin's, pp. Graebner, in "Reflections at a turning point," written at thebeginning of the 199 s, looks back on NATO as a success on more than anarrowly strategic level. It can console one torecall how present-day crises, perilous though they seem, may not beworse than those of an earlier generation (Henderson, 1982, p. 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