WHY WAS THE FORMATION OF NATO SOUGHT BY BRITAIN AS A SOLUTION TO ITS DEFENSE DILEMMA

Why Was the Formation of NATO Sought By Britain as a Solution to Its Defense Dilemma?

Why Was the Formation of NATO Sought By Britain as a Solution to Its Defense Dilemma?

Introduction

A 'North Atlantic Treaty' was signed in Washington on 4 April 1949 by the Foreign Ministers of Belgium, Britain, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal and the United States, providing for mutual assistance should any one member of the alliance be attacked (although not automatically providing for immediate military action). Greece and Turkey joined NATO on 18 February 1952, the German Federal Republic on 9 May 1955. The treaties were a product of the 'Cold War' and the blockade of Berlin, but the organization itself was built up as an integrated military force under the later tensions imposed by the Korean War from September 1950 onwards. Friction has developed at times between American policies, which aimed at using NATO as a means of creating a political and economic 'Atlantic Community', and the needs of the growing European Community. President de Gaulle's suspicion of American intentions led to the withdrawal of French forces from NATO command in the spring of 1966, requiring the removal of NATO headquarters from Fontainebleau to Brussels. Disputes between two NATO members, Greece and Turkey, have at times weakened the effectiveness of the organization in the Mediterranean, the Greeks withdrawing all their units from NATO on 17 August 1964 because of tension with Turkey over Cyprus. A compromise over the alliance's responsibilities in the Aegean enabled Greece to re-enter NATO in October 1980. Spain joined in May 1982. With the ending of the Cold War, a series of conferences in the winter of 1990-1991 recommended major cuts and redeployment, including the setting up of a multinational 'rapid reaction' force of some 100,000 men, able to be transported by air to potential danger-spots. NATO forces were deployed in Bosnia-Herzegovina and the Adriatic from 1992 until 1995 supporting UN peacekeeping, and remaining to seek implementation of the Dayton Accord. At the same time a 'Partnership for Peace' program, outlined in 1994, extended associate membership to twenty-seven states, each of whom collaborates with NATO at its headquarters in Belgium and may seek aid from full members if there is a direct threat to its territorial integrity. Proposals to extend full NATO membership to former Warsaw Pact countries angered Russia. However, in late May 1997 Yeltsin travelled to Paris for a meeting with Western political leaders and signed the 'Founding Act on Mutual Relations, Co-operation and Security between NATO and the Russian Federation'. Six weeks later, at a summit conference in Madrid, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland were invited to join NATO by the spring of 1999. Action against Yugoslavia in March 1999 was followed by the establishment of a NATO protectorate over Kosovo.

Discussion

The British Empire was once the largest in the history of the ...