In the years after World War II, a new threat encroached upon the leaders of Western Europe and their hopes of a stable peace. This threat would be from the growing dominance of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) in Eastern Europe. The USSR had an increasing appetite for the smaller countries to her west. These aggressive demands for territory and the placing of installations in taken countries fueled the fears of many that the USSR was marching toward a third world war. Britain and France, not wanting to make the mistake aga

These pressing questions tainted the next three decades and worried some of the other NATO members that the US wouldn't honor their pledge if the USSR were to do the unspeakable to Western Europe. NATO members tried to keep a positive perspective, but several events caused a sense of dissatisfaction of its worth by the end of the sixties. To begin the decade off the USSR officially blockaded their side of Berlin by erecting the 'wall'. At first the Berlin Wall consisted only of barbed wire, but people were 'escaping' to East Germany, so an actual concrete wall was constructed with all the bells and whistles, like checkpoints with armed guards and minefields. The people of East Germany were prisoners in their own country and were not allowed to contact or visit family. In addition, the withdrawal of France, one of the founding members, in 1966 by President Charles de Gaulle sent shock waves through the organization. Although they continued to contribute to the alliance, they left the governing duties to the other members. Also NATO was pressured by the smaller nation-states to be come members and that would take a lot of funding, time, and focus away from the problems in Eastern Europe. One of the main factors of the late sixties and early seventies was America's involvement in the Vietnam War. This horrifying war sapped the US economy, morale, and foreign policy prowess. Although the 1970s began with the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT I), this decade created more disillusionment by world powers as the Soviets continued to rapidly stock their military and nuclear arsenals. In 1979, NATO initiated a dual-track program where new defense efforts were coupled with new efforts in reconciliation and cooperation. Unfortunately, the steps taken by both sides were small and uneventful and usually were retracted within a short time. This brings us to the Reagan years, the eighties, and to the closest watched political tug-a-war in years. This decade opened with a deepening crisis and in 1983 the USSR failed to prevent the deployment of intermediate-range ballistic missiles, sent to counteract the ones they had pointed a Europe's major cites. It is possible to say that NATO help greatly in dissuading the USSR from following through on attacking Western Europe. The 'game' had gotten deadly serious and in 1987 both sides agreed to talks. Out of these talks came the Intermediate-range Nuclear Force (INF) Treaty, which not only gave people a sense of relief across the world it also began the breakdown of the Warsaw Pact and the WTO. The change in the wind prompted the Berlin Wall that separated a people for over twenty-five years to be torn down and Germany was finally reunified. The late eighties to the mid-nineties finally saw the beginning of the end to the Cold War. This time also showed the world the success of NATO and the unified efforts of its members in meeting the challenge of the Communists and the WTO.

Nelan, B., "A Popular Bad Idea", Time, May 11, 1998 v151 n18 p38

Some common words found in the essay are:
Balkans European, Talks SALT, Atlantic Treaty, WTO USSR, Korean War, Germany Berlin, Hungary Poland, Republic Yugoslavia, Atlantic Council, West Germany, north atlantic, north atlantic treaty, atlantic treaty, treaty organization, western europe, cold war, west germany, warsaw pact, east germany, korean war, eastern europe, atlantic treaty organization, international dec 10, beginning cold war,
Approximate Word count = 2683
Approximate Pages = 11 (250 words per page double spaced)