Oliver C. Dziggel
Abstract: The preponderant preoccupation of sovereign actors in the international system during the course of the Twentieth Century has been, and continues to be, the achievement of peaceful coexistence through collective security. This essay examines the interrelationship between two collective security systems: the United Nations (UN), which was established in 1945 and indeed closely approaches the classic definition of a collective security arrangement; and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), which was created in 1949 by the US and her Western allies as a collective defense pact against the Soviet Union. The central question to be addressed is whether NATO, as a regional security organization, enhances or detracts from the broad and ambitious purposes and principles comprising the UN. It is found that NATO’s role in maintaining peaceful coexistence between the United States and the Soviet Union has had a beneficial impact on the development of the UN into a moderately successful world organization. It has allowed the UN to broaden its operational parameters and serve a greater global constituency instead of being hamstrung by the East-West dilemma.
Keywords: NATO, United States of America, US, Soviet Union, USSR, Warsaw Pact, collective security, international system, peace
