Table Of ContentTHE LONG
ENTANGLEMENT
NATO’s First Fifty Years
Lawrence S. Kaplan
Westport, Connecticut
London
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Kaplan, Lawrence S.
The long entanglement : NATO’s first fifty years
/ Lawrence S. Kaplan,
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-275-96418-3 (alk. paper).—ISBN 0-275-96419-1 (pbk. :
alk. paper)
1. United States—Foreign relations—1945-1989. 2. United States—
Foreign relations—1989- 3. North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
I. Title.
E744.K177 1999
327.73—dc21 98-37152
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data is available.
Copyright © 1999 by Lawrence S. Kaplan
All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be
reproduced, by any process or technique, without the
express written consent of the publisher.
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 98-37152
ISBN: 0-275-96418-3
0-275-96419-1 (pbk.)
First published in 1999
Praeger Publishers, 88 Post Road West, Westport, CT 06881
An imprint of Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc.
Printed in the United States of America
The paper used in this book complies with the
Permanent Paper Standard issued by the National
Information Standards Organization (Z39.48-1984).
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
In Memory of
General Lyman L. Lemnitzer
Supreme Allied Commander, Europe
1963-1969
Contents
Preface and Acknowledgments ix
Abbreviations xi
I. Origins of the Alliance, 1948-1949
1. An Unequal Triad: The United States, the Western Union,
and NATO 7
2. The “Atlantic” Component of NATO 29
3. The Mutual Defense Assistance Act of 1949 37
H. NATO in the First Generation, 1950-1967
4. The Impact of Sputnik on NATO 65
5. The Berlin Crisis, 1958-1962: Views from the Pentagon 77
6. Les débats stratégiques 99
HI. NATO in the Second Generation, 1968-1989
7. The U.S. and NATO in the Johnson Years 121
8. NATO and the Nixon Doctrine: Ten Years Later 149
viii Contents
9. The INF Treaty and the Future of NATO: Lessons from
the 1960s 165
IV. NATO in the Third Generation, from 1991
10. NATO after the Cold War 185
11. NATO at Fifty 203
12. NATO: A Counterfactual History 221
Appendix: The North Atlantic Treaty, Washington, D.C.,
April 4, 1949 239
Bibliographical Essay 243
Index 247
Preface and Acknowledgments
The fiftieth anniversary of America’s long entanglement with Western Eu
rope in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) presents an ap
propriate occasion to look back on the history of that alliance. The
implosion of the Soviet empire in the early 1990s left NATO seeking new
reasons for its existence. Even if centrifugal forces may be greater today
than were during the Cold War, none of the members wishes to abandon
the alliance. While NATO has been the subject of many books, few of
them have examined its history, and those few have been surveys rather
than in-depth studies. The NATO archives are only beginning to be opened,
but it is possible to use declassified documents in the U.S. National Archives
and the presidential libraries to examine the American role. This book con
sists of twelve monographs and essays, most of which have appeared in
conference proceedings. They examine critical issues in the organization’s
history and are connected by brief narratives. The result is intended to be
an interpretation of a fifty-year history in which the difficulties in reaching
a consensus among sixteen allies rival those dealing with the Communist
adversary.
My interest in the Atlantic alliance goes back almost to the beginning of
NATO, to 1951 when I joined the Historian’s office of the secretary of
defense. Among the duties of this office was the preparation of a mono
graph on the Defense Department’s contribution to the Military Assistance
Program in which NATO was the major beneficiary. The project was ini
tiated by the head of the office, Rudoph A. Winnacker. It was not com
pleted until 1980 under the sponsorship of Winnacker’s successor, Alfred
Preface and Acknowledgments
X
Goldberg. Goldberg’s encouragement revived my hopes for making NATO
a major subject of research, and it has been in his office that I have con
tinued my NATO studies. Three chapters in this book owe their origins to
a larger study of the McNamara years under the auspices of the Historian’s
office. Goldberg’s editorial skills will be evident in the final product. My
thanks go to him and to the collegial environment he has provided over
the years. Along with A1 Goldberg at the head of the table I have received
intellectual nourishment from Alice Cole, Ed Drea, John Glennon, Ron
Hoffman, Ron Landa, Dick Leighton, Stuart Rochester, Max Rosenberg,
Roger Trask, and Dalton West. I should like to add a special note of ap
preciation to Steve Rearden for his contributions to my NATO course at
Georgetown.
A second source of inspiration derives from my long connection with the
Lyman L. Lemnitzer Center for NATO and European Union Studies, which
has extended beyond my retirement in 1993. Four chapters selected for this
book were written in the course of conferences and symposia sponsored in
the 1980s by the Lemnitzer Center. This is an occasion for me to express
again my gratitude for the support I have received from my associates at
the Center, including Bolek Boczek, Bob Clawson, Mark Rubin, Ruth
Young, and, particularly, my successor as director, Vic Papacosma. A num
ber of my former graduate students and present friends have deepened my
understanding of NATO’s history; Scott Bills, Lynne Dunn, Dick Grimmett,
George Mazuzan, Mike Ruddy, and Tim Smith are the most prominent.
Similarly, I owe a considerable debt to European colleagues for their com
mentaries on the United States role in Europe, including Walter Lipgens in
Germany, Raimondo Luraghi in Italy, Pierre Melandri in France, Olav
Riste in Norway, Nick Sherwen in Brussels, Jarrod Wiener in Britain, and,
especially, Cees Wiebes and Bert Zeeman in the Netherlands. I have dedi
cated this book to the memory of General Lemnitzer, who devoted his life
to publicizing the cause of NATO after retiring in 1969 as Supreme Allied
Commander, Europe. His special interest in Kent State University energized
the NATO Center.
Abbreviations
ANF Atlantic Nuclear Force
CDE Confidence- and Security-Building Measures in Europe
CENTO Central Treaty Organization
CJTF Combined Joint Task Force
CSCS Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe
DoD Department of Defense
DPC Defense Planning Committee
GDR German Democratic Republic
ICBM Intercontinental Ballistic Missile
IFOR Implementation Force
INF Intermediate-Range Nuclear Arms Reduction Treaty
JCS Joint Chiefs of Staff
MAP Military Assistance Program
MBFR Mutual and Balanced Force Reduction Program
MDAP Mutual Defense Assistance Program
MLF Multilateral Force
NACC North Atlantic Coordination Council
NPG Nuclear Planning Group
xii Abbreviations
NSAM National Security Action Memorandum
OSCE Organization on Security and Cooperation in Europe
OSD Office of Secretary of Defense
PFP Partnership for Peace
SACEUR Supreme Allied Commander, Europe
SALT Strategic Arms Limitation Talks
SDI Strategic Defense Initiative
SEATO Southeast Asia Treaty Organization
SFOR Stabilization Force
START Strategic Arms Reduction Talks
WEU Western European Union
