Description
With the Truman Doctrine of containment, which arose from a speech President Harry S. Truman delivered on 12 March 1947, the country’s reluctance to engage in regional conflicts not directly involving the United States started to change. The country would aid all “free people” being subjugated, starting with financial aid to Greece and Turkey to protect them from communist threats. The following year, the United States launched the Marshall Plan, officially known as the European Recovery Program, a massive initiative to help boost European economies and reconstruct the war-ravaged continent. In June 1948, the Senate, the upper house of the country’s legislative branch, passed a resolution that would change the course of American foreign policy: the Vandenburg Resolution, which allowed the United States to participate constitutionally in a mutual defense system in peacetime.
Starting in 1948, secret talks began in the Pentagon among British, Canadian and American officials. These talks would eventually include other future Allies and would form the basis of the North Atlantic Treaty. American officials had to navigate carefully, as isolationist and unilateralist tendencies were strong within the Senate and among the population at large. However, 1948 saw momentous events in Europe, such as the Berlin Blockade and the communist coup in Czechoslovakia, which reshaped American views on the continent. On 4 April 1949, Secretary of State Dean Acheson signed the North Atlantic Treaty on behalf of the United States, formally wedding his country to the future of Europe. The Senate ratified the treaty on 21 July 1949 by a vote of 83-13. On 25 July 1949, President Truman and Secretary Acheson signed the Instrument of Accession, making the United States a founding member of NATO.
The collective defense arrangements in NATO served to place the whole of Western Europe under the American “nuclear umbrella.” In the 1950s, one of the first military doctrines of NATO emerged in the form of “massive retaliation,” or the idea that if any member was attacked, the United States would respond with a large-scale nuclear attack. The threat of this form of response was meant to serve as a deterrent against Soviet aggression on the continent. Although formed in response to the exigencies of the developing Cold War, NATO has lasted beyond the end of that conflict, with membership even expanding to include some former Soviet states. It remains the largest peacetime military alliance in the world.
U.S. Permanent Representative to NATO occupies the U.S. chair in the North Atlantic Council (NAC), which is the principal political decision-making body within NATO. The NAC oversees the political and military process relating to security issues affecting the Alliance. The NAC brings together representatives of each member country to discuss policy or operational questions, providing a forum for wide-ranging consultation between members on all issues affecting their peace and security.
This lapel pin represents the dedication of the people and US military with the American flag on the left and our world allies with NATO’s flag showing the blue color symbolizes the Atlantic Ocean, while the circle stands for unity on the right.
Minted from solid bronze and given gold shiny finish, this lapel pin is accented with richly brightly colored enamels.
Each lapel pin measures 3/4inches (20mm)in diameter.
This is a surplus NWTM item. Packaging may vary.
