75 years in, NATO remains as vital as ever to American life

As NATO celebrates its 75th anniversary, some Americans are asking serious questions about the value of the transatlantic alliance. They argue that it is anachronistic, full of burden-sharing slackers, and does not focus enough on China, the United States’ main enemy.

I can understand this kind of criticism to some extent. The age of NATO obscures why the United States broke with historical tradition in her 1949 and became involved in alliances with other countries. As a result, today some Americans and even some Europeans take NATO for granted.

This is unfortunate and short-sighted. The NATO alliance continues to form the backbone of the American way of life, not just for transatlantic security, but more fundamentally. Downplaying, undermining, or even ignoring its importance would threaten the peace and security Americans have enjoyed since the end of World War II.

NATO was born on the heels of the last major global conflict. Immediately after the end of World War II in 1945, the Soviet Union took aggressive action across Central Europe, establishing communist regimes, weakening democratically elected governments, and dismantling capitalism. . Stalin declared that his country would maintain its wartime military presence rather than demobilize wholesale, as all other countries involved in the war had done. The Soviet Union rapidly filled the power vacuum created by the defeat of Nazi Germany.

Meanwhile, Britain was militarily and financially exhausted, France desperately needed financial and material aid, and the continent was economically and militarily devastated by the war. British leaders recognized the risk of allowing Moscow’s aggression to go unchecked and aimed to persuade the United States to remain involved in Europe.

Meanwhile, American officials wanted to focus on humanitarian and infrastructure assistance in Europe. Washington’s priorities were to get Europe’s economy back on its feet, able to buy American exports, and avoid a repeat of the postwar recession that followed World War I. marshall planMilitary aid was not central to America’s European policy.

Several pivotal events in 1948 changed the outlook of the United States.received Soviet support Communist coup in CzechoslovakiaWith Moscow’s pressure on Finland and Norway to sign non-aggression pacts, and the growing political power of the communists in Greece and Turkey, public opinion began to turn against the Soviet Union.

The most important thing is Soviet blockade of Berlin Started in June 1948 — this led to the start of the United States and Great Britain. airlift operation In order to maintain the flow of food and fuel to West Berlin, public opinion changed irreversibly. American leaders concluded that it was only through an American-backed military alliance that Western Europe could gain the stability and security necessary for economic recovery.

By the end of 1948, U.S. leaders accepted an invitation to participate in negotiations with Western European countries and Canada to create what would become NATO. Negotiations on NATO’s founding document, the North Atlantic Treaty, progressed rapidly, and by April 1949 the document was ready for signing.

The stability and security of Europe is as essential to America’s economic prosperity now as it was then. In 2022, two-way trade in goods and services between the United States and Europe will be $1.3 trillion (By comparison, U.S.-China trade in goods and services was $758 billion in the same year). In 2020, American companies earned $180 billion in Europe (compared to $7.1 billion in China). The total amount of US investment in Europe is 4 times bigger More than investment in the Asia-Pacific region, foreign direct investment from Europe into the United States is about 10 times greater than European investment in India and China combined. And in 2019, we started directly supporting European companies with a presence in the US. 5 million jobs in America (In contrast, Chinese companies directly supported 160,000 American jobs that year).

It is no exaggeration to say that trade and investment with Europe is essential to the American economy and ultimately to the American way of life.

Russia has been and will continue to be the greatest threat to European stability. Whether led by the Tsar, the Politburo, or an authoritarian like President Putin, Moscow has long conflated territory with security, effectively gaining political and economic control over its neighbors. are forced to ask. A Russian military attack on the heart of Europe would collapse European security, send the European economy into a downward spiral, devastate transatlantic trade and investment, and create a wave of refugees. , resulting in a slowdown in the American economy.

But even a large-scale attack by Russia on Europe would not be necessary to cause a similar impact – a localized conflict reportedly affecting one or two or even just one country. . A simple threat would suffice, which in turn leads to destabilization of the entire continent. This same version developed in the wake of the negative economic consequences of Russia’s war against Ukraine. Impact on companies Not just investors Not only throughout Europe, almost 6 million refugees.

For all these reasons, Russia is not just a “serious” threat as classified in American terms. national defense strategy; it is permanent, unpredictable, and tolerant of risk. Over time, the West could reduce the toxicity of that threat through long-term sanctions aimed at curbing development and by reducing dependence on fossil fuels, Moscow’s only major export. However, for now, that goal seems far away.

Beyond economic ties, the values, culture, and traditions that the United States shares with Europe are important and in many ways form the basis of the transatlantic relationship. Moreover, NATO allies share the burden of defending common interests, and today European countries provide more financial, military, and humanitarian aid to Ukraine than the United States. However, these other factors alone do not justify America’s membership in NATO and its commitment to European security. This is certainly the case with the health of the American economy. Perhaps ironically, Alliance establishment treaty Economic factors are rarely mentioned. However, there is no escaping the role that NATO plays in safeguarding stability and security across Europe, and therefore the need for the alliance to facilitate transatlantic trade and investment.

As we approach the Alliance’s 75th anniversary, we remember why our grandparents had the wisdom to join NATO and why we should expect today’s leaders to maintain the same foresight and common sense. There is no best time to try it.

John R. Deni is a research professor at the United States Army War College. Strategic Research Institute, non-resident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, and associate fellow at the NATO National Defense University. He is the author of the book.NATO and Article 5” His views are not necessarily those of the organizations mentioned above.