THE 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