Of greater concern, in the immediate postwar years, was the enemy at home. With the militarization of the alliance at the turn of the 1950s (acquiring its ‘organization’ and integrated command as Chinese troops crossed the Yalu), the forces at the disposal of the Supreme Allied Commander Europe ( saceur) grew more formidable-by the middle of the decade, equipped with 280mm M65 atomic cannon-but schemes to mount a defence at the Fulda Gap or on the North German plains were always far-fetched and recognized as such.

In the unlikely event of a Soviet offensive on Western Europe, a handful of under-armed American divisions could not be counted on to turn the tide. footnote 2 Since its inception in 1949, nato has assumed all of these functions each, however, has not been equal in significance, and their relative weight has shifted with time.įrom the beginning, the architects of the North Atlantic Treaty were under few illusions as to the military utility of their compact. As well as offering a framework for collective defence, and thus for coercive diplomacy, they may also serve as pacts of restraint, through which a strong power manages its weaker allies, potential adversaries seek conciliation or contracting parties pledge mutual forbearance.

footnote 1 Ensuring internal order, encouraging commerce and disseminating ideology are additional alliance activities, far from exhaustive. But this is not their only, or even primary role. M ilitary alliances, by definition, are an agreement on the use of force against a rival.

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