NATO Enlargement And The Relations Between U.S.A And Europe In Post-Cold War

At the end of 1980s and the beginning of 90's, the Cold War that continued morethan 40 years was over, the two oppositions groups-------the Warsaw TreatyOrganization and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization also faced their transitions. The Warsaw Treaty Organization has disintegrated, but under the mutual effort of the Atlantic Alliance, NATO has launched the enlargement and the strategic innovation. On March 29, 2004, NATO expanded for 26 member nations, and became a huge organization. In the past Cold War, the maneuver of U.S.A. and Western Europe in the world international politics pattern all concentrated in the development and the tendency of NATO. NATO has become a strong character what affected the world war and peace after Cold War. In this sense, studying NATO's strategic reforming and the enlargement in the past Cold War have unique important meanings in correctly understood the new pattern of international relations in the past Cold War and providing the beneficial experiences for us in the international contact. NATO's enlargement not only has decided the reconstruction of the European security, but also affected the international relational pattern in the past Cold War profoundly, and affected the world war and peace in the future.In the past Cold War, NATO's strategic adjustment contained the twofold implications: "Enlargement" and "Expansion". The "Enlargement" means the influence expanding and member's increasing, like the Partnership for Peace and developing the new members. The "Expansion" is refers to the nature transformation and the strategy innovates of the organization, like the new strategic concept. In brief, NATO's strategy in the past Cold War is a expansion strategy in the composition, function, in the nature. From 1991, NATO started the Partnership for Peace, the Mediterranean Dialogue, Southern Europe Initiative and so on, these dialogues and cooperation caused the Hand of Friendship of NATO and center the Eastern Europe and has completed the structure, the economy and the mental preparations for NATO enlargement. On March 12, 1999, Czechoslovakian, Hungarian and Polish were admitted. On March 29, 2004, Bulgarian, Estonian, Latvian, Lithuania, Romanian, the Slovenia and the Slovakian have joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization officially at the ceremony that held in Washington. In the past Cold War, the more important change of NATO lies in its strategic expansion. From April 23,1999 to 25th, the NATO 50th anniversary ceremony that hold in Washington, NATO put forward the new strategy concept of NATO. The principle of the new strategic concept transferred from "the collective defense" to "guards the common interest", the strategic concept demanded NATO to have the ability to make the rapid response for the crisis outside the defense area. In this way, NATO emphasized its transformation from a defensive military organization to a military-political tool.The NATO enlargement is closed related to the strategic choice of the U.S.A. and Europe after the Cold War. It is the strategic strength reorganization of the Atlantic alliance in the past Cold War. It is also a process that American, the European allies as well as center the Eastern European measured the domestic political and economicalconditions and the international environment and relocated their strategy. This process is impelled by strategic interacts of America and Europe. US is the most important nation of NATO. In the Cold War, American foreign strategy in Europe is imitated for NATO's foreign strategy nearly. But while paying attention the control strength of America to NATO, we also are unable to neglect the function of Europe in NATO after the Cold War. There are 24 European countries in NATO's 26 member nations and Partnership for Peace countries are all in Europe. After World War II, on the one hand must reconstruct the country in piece of ruins, on the one hand stemmed from the fear for Soviet Union and Germany, Western Europe couldn't but rely on American protection. Therefore, U.S.A. controlled NATO. But this situation started to change in 20th century 60, 70's. Because of relaxing of the Cold war and the European economy restoration, Western Europe began to request a bigger right in NATO. After the Cold War, Western Europe depended on European Union, its willing and the ability of independent processing European business remarkable enhanced. The European military integration has made the substantive progress. And the relationship of American and European defense security has also had the corresponding change. Their difference in the security in Europe and the defense question increased. Western Europe not willingly followed US, they even hoped contends with US by cooperating with Russia. Because of the rising of European strength, US abandoned the allies and towards the unilateral principle day after day. The difference between US and Europe further intensified. In a lot of programs, such as the European defense integration, relations between NATO and Europe, the " globalization" and "Europeanization " of NATO, how to regard Russia, which countries can be admitted and so on, America and the European partner had different opinion. Notwithstanding Europe positively invested to NATO enlargement and the new strategic transformation that led by US .It because that: the unbalance of international powers caused the Atlantic alliance united together to protect the achievement of Cold War; US and Europe had the common interests in geopolitics strategic, attenuates Russia, splits up Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), and prevented the communism ideology recovers in the former Soviet Union area, it is US and Europe's common goals; the America and Europe had the common civilization inherits, human rights, freedom and equality root deeply in theirs civilization, they all hoped the developing nations could integrate with the western. At the same time, although Russia has lost the superpower status, but still has the formidable military force. Just like geopolitics followers emphasized that NATO should defend Russia. So US would continue to invest the large amount aid to the center Eastern Europe. Because of dreaming of the western economy and political democracy or worrying about Russia, Center the Eastern Europe also hoped to become a member of NATO. These factors had affected the motion and the direction of NATO. In the future, NATO would become a club of European regional security or go to the old route of strengthening the armament and reconstructing the collective security? It would be decided by the choice of US and Europe (including the Western Europe allies and center Eastern Europe).When the Cold War was over, s the balance and the stability that produced in theCold War would vacillate and collapsed sooner or later. NATO acted as the firing line of this transformation. NATO enlargement is it the spontaneous need for the survival of an international organization. The collision between US and Europe made the need showing. Analyzing the change of NATO, we shouldn't ignore these values. However, this two acted to NATO were not equal, and US is the dominant power in NATO. It is US who guided NATO and stipulated the direction and the time of the reformation of NATO. The other nations then responded tq US's decisions and the motion. US urged the collision and NATO enlargement was a result of the kind of collision. In the great degree, European effect is interior. Resounded after US'S starter's pistol, Europe run towards the destination, but the starting point was different so the best methods that they achieved the goals were different. The contradictions between allies partially changed authority allocation in NATO and revised some specific actions of NATO enlargement, but US and Europe are still connected closely in the democratic values as well as the culture. In the process of NATO enlargement, US and Europe had the uniformity strategy, therefore, Europe would maintain consistently with US as a whole. Yet Europe would have some conflicts with US in specific questions involving their own benefits, but these conflicts would proceed in the frame of NATO enlargement and did not hinder the determination of NATO expanding. Foresee, in quite long period of time, this alliance would still go forward by noisy brawl.In the past Cold War, under the new strategy NATO has carried on the huraanitarianism interference. This involved in geopolitics benefit of the superpowers. The behavior that superpower carried out the military intervention for their own benefits would involve the world in war, even more initiate the humanitarianism disaster. As a regional politics, the military force in the past Cold War, only does North Atlantic Treaty Organization respect national sovereignty, observe the Charter of the United Nations, carry out the duties of peace-keeping, crisis management, weapons of mass destruction control and so on, it could assert the peace and the security in Eurasia and conform to the world historical trend of peace and development.