The North Atlantic Treaty Organization has began to revamp its presence in Europe, which was hoped would never be needed again after the collapse of the Berlin Wall. NATO was one of the many alliances the U.S. created during the Cold War to help protect the globe from the effects of Communism. Although NATO was never formally disbanded after the collapse of the Berlin Wall, their presence across Europe gradually decreased to a point where the coalition was thought to be useless as it had been replaced by the strong bond formed in the United Nations after the Soviet Unions collapse. NATO however may be needed once more as Russia continues to apply pressure in Eastern Europe causing tensions to rise to a level that rivals the Cold War, hence the return of the alliance.
So how does this apply to America? Well firstly America is responsible for the creation of NATO and is also one of the alliances strongest members. America generally heads all military pursuits and is one of the biggest influences on the decisions of the alliance. NATO's resurgence suggests that the American foreign diplomacy is moving away from the UN and back into its habits of strong arming other nations much like we had between World War II and Afghanistan. Until the crises of Northern Africa, and Eastern Europe the UN was never given a true chance to function as the police of the world, however since Obama has taken office he has attempted to put the fate of the globe in the hands of the UN and it has worked to a degree, but to many nations are hesitant to act with force allowing nations such as Russia to pummel it way through opposition. Due to the inability of the UN it seems the the United States is being pushed onto another route and attempting to reawaken the alliance that once threatened the Soviet Union and kept the communist nation at bay. However today the face a new type of enemy, a politically stable Russia with the support of its nation capable of waging war nearly anywhere across the globe, fueled by a people of pride who are willing to fight for their leader.
NATO is hopefully once again just a measure to deter Russian aggression, but only time will tell. The hopes across the globe is that the crisis in Ukraine will end with a peaceful means. However with the current progression of events it is all to possible that American bases across the globe will be on stand by for war in Europe once again.
http://www.cnn.com/2014/04/03/world/europe/ukraine-crisis/index.html?hpt=hp_bn2
Your blog posts are making me think this is looking more and more like World War 2, and a possible World War 3. I sure hope it doesn't come to that. Once again, our government has a choice to make: do we want to have our hand in these affairs or attempt to stay out of it? Seeing as we have never really had success with the whole "isolationism" thing, we'll probably have a mess on our hands really soon.
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