NATO

Robert Walker

Chapter 11 in Is China Right?, 2026, pp 148-161 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: NATO, a military alliance, was established immediately after World War II when Europe feared Germany, and the US feared the Soviet Union and communism. Global events, especially the Korean War, convinced a sceptical US Congress that European defence coincided with US interests in its fight against communism. A tool, and arguably a contributory cause, of the Cold War, Soviet attempts at rapprochement were rejected and NATO faced down Warsaw Pact countries until the USSR collapsed. Thereafter, NATO was incorporated into US global foreign policy, functioning for the first time as a fighting force in Europe and then further afield. Ignoring requests by the Russian Federation for integration into Europe and NATO, promises not to expand NATO membership eastwards to the Russian border went unkept. Ukraine, always a potential point of conflict, has NATO locked in a proxy war, adding to the death toll associated with a military alliance that arguably was never needed.

Keywords: NATO; Defence; USSR; Cold War; Enlargement; International law; Russo-Ukrainian War (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781035329229
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