How Useful Is NATO?

Abstract

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was originally conceived as an alliance between the United States, Canada, and Western Europe for the purpose of guaranteeing their mutual defense. The assurance the alliance provided for the defense of Western Europe was ben eficial and necessary in the face of the mounting Soviet threat. More and more the "shield" that NATO forces were to provide has become nothing more than a "tripwire," because the NATO military forces in Europe, according to the calculated estimates, are and have been since the inception of NATO inadequate to restrain a Soviet westward movement. Apart from the military co-operation provided for in the alliance, there were provisions for political and economic co-operation. These were left aside from the beginning, mainly because there were other organiza tions better suited to deal with them effectively. For these reasons, it seems that NATO has become an outmoded instru ment for the pursuit of free-world interests. Perhaps, NATO could be used as a bargaining counter for an eventual peace settlement in Europe, but it may already be too late to use NATO for even this purpose.—Ed.