title: NATO AT THE CROSSROADS
abstract: NATO was formed in 1949 by two American and 10 European countries, as a barrier to the spread of the USSR and communism. NATO played its role during the Cold War, because there was no direct conflict with the USSR and the Warsaw Pact. After the Cold War, when the USSR collapsed and the Warsaw Pact was dissolved, NATO survived and got completely new roles: 1) De iure, as a regional agreement to establish peace and security in the world and 2) De facto, as a lever of US power in an attempt to esta