Alliances in disarray.

• Author: Bresler, Robert J.
• Position: STATE OF THE NATION

ONE OF THE GREAT ACHIEVEMENTS of American diplomacy in the 20th century was the creation of an enduring alliance system, essential to winning World War II and the Cold War. The U.S. formed formal and informal alliances with more than 40 nations. The economic, political, and military power of those ties overwhelmed the shrinking power of the Soviet Union. Within that alliance system was an array of diverse countries, including Great Britain, France, Germany, Norway, Japan, South Korea, Israel, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Jordan, Australia, the Philippines, and Taiwan.

In the 1991 Gulf War, the full force of that alliance was brought to bear to reverse the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Even in the more recent, if less popular, Iraqi War, many of those allies came to our assistance. Most of these alliance countries were democratic, but many important ones were not: Spain under Francisco Franco; the Saudi Kingdom; Egypt under Anwar Sadat and Hosni Mubarak; the Philippines under Ferdinand Marcos; Indonesia under Suharto; and Iran under the Shah.

Expediency required that the U.S. had to make do in a world it did not create. World politics always has included some rough neighborhoods and neighbors. Out of necessity, during World War n, the U.S. embraced the Soviet Union.

The U.S. was new to global leadership prior to Pearl Harbor; yet, it learned quickly. Alliances required constant attention and personal relationships. We know of the historic ones: Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill, Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher. The constant flow of foreign heads of state to Washington was a symbol of those relationships. In difficult times, presidents worked overtime to keep our alliances intact. Dwight Eisenhower worked with Sigmund Rhee of South Korea to gain an armistice in the Korean War; Jimmy Carter worked with Sadat and Israel's Menachem Begin to secure a peace treaty between the two countries; Reagan worked with the Saudi Kingdom to lower oil prices and squeeze the Soviets who were living off high-priced oil; George H.W. Bush built a world alliance against Saddam Hussein; Bill Clinton worked with the leaders of Ireland and Britain to help settle the Northern Ireland conflict; and George W. Bush built a relationship with the Iraqi government during the surge of 2007-08.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, some questioned the value and importance of these alliances. What is the threat they are built to contain? Why should the U.S. continue...