European Security Architecture: An American View

The focus of the policy of the United States (US) during the Cold War was on the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) as a military organization, and the US committed a substantial portion of its forces to that task. But the security needs of the post-Cold War era dictate that the focus now shift to a more comprehensive view of European security. NATO, to be sure, should continue as the basis on which the US pursues its fundamental or vital security interests. However, the US also has an interest both in helping to develop within NATO other activities that contribute to security, in a wider sense of the term than prevailed during the Cold War, and in providing leadership to broaden the traditional approach of the US and its European allies to organizations outside yet complementary to NATO that reinforce stability on the continent.