![]() ![]() The Alliance's security policy is based on dialogue co-operation and effective collective defence as mutually reinforcing instruments for preserving the peace. "This Strategic Concept reaffirms the defensive nature of the Alliance and the resolve of its members to safeguard their security, sovereignty and territorial integrity. It set a new tone and the opening words of its conclusion are significant: However, in November 1991, six months after the collapse of the Warsaw Pact, NATO issued its new Strategic Concept as a public document for the first time. Large international organisations are often resistant to change. 1 NATO was ready, but for only one scenario. ![]() More than 400,000 US personnel were based on the European continent. A further 30 Divisions and 1.7 million personnel were at high readiness. At the peak of the Cold War, just under three million personnel and 100 army Divisions were on the ground in Europe and committed to NATO. So, by the mid 1980s, NATO’s 16 member states could claim a military strength of over five million personnel. “Massive Retaliation” gradually became “Flexible Response”, which put greater emphasis on the need for robust conventional forces. Despite the Cuban missile crisis, and tensions over Vietnam, a cautious dialogue was established with Moscow. Throughout the 1960s, NATO embraced détente as a political tool to enhance dialogue with Warsaw Pact countries. This, of course, demanded an absolute reliance on the nuclear capability of the United States and, with the slight exception of France and the United Kingdom, European Allies were more than content to live under the perceived security of the ‘Transatlantic Umbrella’. NATO settled into its “ New Look” policy throughout the 1950s, which aimed to give greater military effectiveness without having to spend more on defence. Allies were simply not prepared to meet the costs involved and, as the Alliance approached its third birthday, it was already learning that political ambition was one thing – putting boots on the ground was something else. Somewhat ironically, as a consequence of the Soviet Union’s nuclear build up following its detonation of a nuclear weapon in 1949, NATO’s policy of “Massive Retaliation” was also quoted as a reason why a build-up of conventional forces was not necessary. This led to the agreement of ambitious NATO force goals at the Lisbon meeting in 1952 but it soon became clear that these could not be met. This was Peace Dividend Number Two! To some extent, the Korean War reversed that thinking because of fears that Moscow would take advantage of the deployment of large numbers of forces on the Korean peninsula to launch an attack against Western Europe. The very establishment of the Alliance was such a strong reassurance measure that its member states were soon clamouring for further cuts to military forces, arguing that NATO provided such a strong political deterrent that a military presence in strength was not necessary. Effectively, this was Peace Dividend Number One, and Allied troop numbers in Europe dropped from around 4.5 million in May 1945 to less than one million by the end of 1946. Governments changed and had little interest in military spending – indeed, they were under considerable pressure from across the Atlantic to settle the debts that had arisen from the United States’ commitment to its European allies. In the post-Second World War years, Western European nations faced a political and economic dilemma. ![]() In fact, the Alliance’s creation was part of a broader effort to serve three purposes: deterring Soviet expansionism, preventing the revival of nationalist militarism in Europe, and encouraging European political integration. The Allies had no doubt about the threat to their national security and that it had to be matched by the necessary forces, which would persuade Moscow the Alliance was credible.īut is our memory entirely accurate? Contrary to common belief, it is also important to note that NATO, from its outset, did not have a single purpose. It had a singular strategic aim: to deter a Soviet invasion of Western Europe. ![]() It is said that, for 40 years, NATO successfully did what it was established to do. ![]()
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