This piece is part of a commentary series on the upcoming NATO summit in Washington in which RAND researchers explore important strategic questions for the alliance as NATO confronts a historic moment, navigating both promise and peril.
In explaining NATO to the American people in a March 1949 radio address, Secretary of State Dean Acheson asked “will the treaty accomplish its purpose?” “No one can say with certainty,” he answered, “We can only act on our convictions.” And Acheson was convinced that NATO was essential for the “restoration of the economic and political health of the world.”
From the outset of the Cold War, this link between economic stability and security was not only pivotal in the formation of NATO but also in Washington's broader strategy for deterring the Soviet Union. Acheson and his colleagues believed that true international peace and security require not only the absence of military threats but also freedom from economic coercion, political intimidation, and interference in domestic affairs.…
The remainder of this commentary is available at warontherocks.com.
Anna M. Dowd is a senior international/defense researcher at RAND, a nonprofit, nonopartisan research institution, and an adjunct fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Dominik P. Jankowski is the deputy permanent representative of Poland to NATO.
