US Military Overseas Commitments

Introduction

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is a military alliance which was formed by the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty in the year 1949. NATO headquarters are located in a Belgium city known as Brussels. The association practices a system known as collective defense, whereby its member countries agree to mutual defense in response to an attack by any external party.¹

At first NATO was just a political association, however after the Korean War the organization members formed an integrated military structure, this was under the direction of two United States supreme commanders. The main aim for the formation of NATO was to protect its members from A Soviet Union attack and also to decrease German power. France withdrew from NATO in the year 1966 this was because they had doubts if NATO defense was strong enough to handle a prospective Soviet Union attack.

When the Berlin wall was demolished in 1989, the organization focused its attention in to the Balkans while it concentrated building a strong relationship with its former foes to the East, this culminated with several signings of the Warsaw pact which saw more countries joining the organization in the year 1999 and 2004. Since the September 11, 2001 twin towers attack on the in the United States, NATO has focused more on fighting terrorism and has deployed troops to Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq.²

NATO formation

NATO formation began with the signing of the Brussels treaty in the year 1948, by Belgium, Netherlands, France, Luxembourg and the United Kingdom. At first it was known as known as Western European Union. Later the European countries thought that it was necessary to include the United States in the organization so that they could counter the Soviet Union military attack. Talks began of the organization with the united states immediately began, and they led to the signing of the North Atlantic treaty which was signed in Washington DC in the year 1949. The talks resulted to the organization changing its previous name Western European Union to North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), it is still holds that name up to date.³

NATO members agreed that incase of an armed attack against one of its members in Europe or North America will be considered as an attack against all of them, and that such an attack will lead to all of them assisting an individual member being attacked⁴.

Korean War

The Korean War began with major hostilities between North Korea and South Korea lasting from the year 1950 to the year 1953. The war began with the attempt of both the countries trying to reunify Korea under there own governments. Before the war the two countries had border conflicts and negotiations to hold elections for the entire Korea collapsed when North Korea invaded South Korea on June 25^th 1950. The United Nations and the United States intervened in support of South Korea. Chinese forces intervened on behalf of North Korea. The war led to the restoration of the original boundaries of the two countries.⁵

The Korean War raised an alarm to NATO of suspected working together of Soviet Union countries and this forced the organization to develop strong military plans. This strengthened NATO powers with more countries joining the organization. The United States as one of the member has since then been involved in many NATO’s oversees military commitments, this include the Afghan war, Iraq war and many other oversees conflicts⁶.

Conclusion

The research explains the reason of forming NATO and why it was necessary to include the United States as one of its members. The Korean War is the main reason why NATO decided to strengthen its military power and included other countries in the organization. Since then United States as one of the member of NATO has been involved in many military oversees missions.

Bibliography

Richard Bassett (2002). And the Wind Blew Cold: The Story of an AmericanPOW in North Korea. Kent State U. Press. p.117

Boyer Yves. (1999). The Consequences of U.S. and NATO Transformation for the European Union. A European View. pp 75-90

Footnotes

1. Boyer Yves. (1999). The Consequences of U.S. and NATO Transformation for the European Union. A European View. pp 75-90
2. Boyer Yves. (1999). The Consequences of U.S. and NATO Transformation for the European Union. A European View. pp 75-90
3. Boyer Yves. (1999). The Consequences of U.S. and NATO Transformation for the European Union. A European View. pp 75-90
4. Boyer Yves. (1999). The Consequences of U.S. and NATO Transformation for the European Union. A European View. pp 75-90
5. Bassett Richard (2002). And the Wind Blew Cold: The Story of an American POW in North Korea. Kent State U. Press. p.117
6. Bassett Richard (2002). And the Wind Blew Cold: The Story of an American POW in North Korea. Kent State U. Press. p.117