AUSA BACKGROUND BRIEF

No. 70 March 1996

U.S. DEFENSE POLICIES SINCE WORLD WAR II

Major world events and crises of the post-World War II (WWII) period were important benchmarks in the evolution ofU.S. national security policies, internationalsecurity and arms control agreements, bilateral and multilateral summits, and use of military force. However, over time the correlation of these world events with U.S. defense policies and U.S. decisionmakers can become confusingand out of sequence. The chart that follows attempts to overcome this problem by providing a chronological reference to the major world events and crises which shaped U.S. national security policies.

The original chart covered the period fromthe end of WWII through 1984 and was used in the (:Ourses of instruction at the U.S. Army War College and U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. With the end of the Cold War symbolized by the dismantling of the Berlin Wall, the time was right to update the chart. Itwas updated through 1989 and again through 1993 by the IL W staff.

The Cold War had an East-West orientation with the major arena focused on Europe and the potential for a NATO-Warsaw Pact war and escalation possibly to a thermonuclear exchange between the United States and the Soviet Union. Events tended to be perceived through a common set of Cold War prisms. That period, as frightening as the prospects for mutual destruction were, is now regarded as far more ordered and predictable than the era going into the 21st century.

The world events of the post-Cold War era have extended into otherwise unfamiliar geographic areas. In place of a world war are the prospects of regional, ethnic wars where weapons of mass destruction- chemical, biological and nuclear- could come into play. TheU.S. armed forces have been involved in a wide range of operations- peacekeeping and humanitarian assistance as well as warfighting- as the events recorded on the chart reflect.

This third update of the chart extends the timespan of major national security events through 1995. U.S. DEFENS

MASSIVE RETALIATION "NEW lOOK" ·ECONOMIC RETRENCHMENT

TRUMAN EISENHOWER KENNEDY

HE LOVETT WILSON McELROY GATES McNAMARA

UN MARSHA NSC- NSC- RESERVES LIMITED TEST FOUNDED PLAN 68 162 MOBILIZED BAN TREATY

WASH-MOSCOW LONDON NSC- KOREAN WAR GENEVA CONF VIENNA SUMMIT NF CONFERENCE HOT LINE r. NAT'L NATO DEF MOSCOW SEA TO TREATY EEC FORMED C NF ACT-47

PARIS PEACE VANDENBURG BAGHDAD ANZUS TREATY CONF RESOLUTION PACT [

RIO ( TREATY *SECRETARY OF WAR : POLICIES SINCE WORLD WAR II

CONVENTIONAL RETALIATION

PARITY SUFFICIENCY ESSENTIAL EQUIVALENCE

JOHNSON NIXON FORD CARTER REA

ROGERS KISSINGER VANCE HA�G SCHULT LAIRD SCHLESINGER RUMSFELD BROWN WEINBER

FRENCH FORCE NIXON (GUAM) NIXON TO US HOSTAGES MIDEAST PEACE NEGOTIATIONS LEAVE NATO DOCTRINE PRC IN IRAN CONTADORA PROCESS KENT SHANGHAI STATE COMMUNIQUE

VIETNAM WAR

SALT I TALKS SALT I SALT· . .LKS co; INUE SALT II START GE STAAT£ !C REDIR )liON CONVENTIONAL AND STRATEGIC REASSESSMENT STRATEGY OF PROJECTION FORCE ENGAGEMENT AND ENLARGEMENT FORCE DRAWDOWN AND REDEPLOYMENT TO U.S.

AN BUSH CLINTON l BAKER LEBURGER CHRISTOPHER BER CARLUCCI CHENEY ASP IN PERRY

NACC ESTABLISHED CHARTER OF PARIS I I GORBACHEV ANNOUNCES BUSH PROPOSES U.S. FORMAL END TO DoD BOITOM-UP TROOP REDUCTIONS TROOP REDUCTION COLD WAR WARSAW PACT REVIEW IN EUROPE FROM NATO REAGAN·GORBACHEV DISBANDED TREATY NORTH AMERICAN INF NUCLEAR ICELAND SUMMIT FREE TRADE CHEMICAL WEAPONS DISSOLUTION OF NONPROLIFERATION FORMER SOVIET AGREEMENT CONVENTION LIBYA AND CHAD WARSAW PACT TREATY EXTENDED BUSH CHEMICAL REPUBLICS DECLARE RESTORE TIES MILITARY ALLIANCE INDEFINITELY _ _ _ WEAPONS ELIMINATION INDEPENDENCE NAFTA RATIFIED 1--______.1 I PROPOSALS AT UN _ __ 1-L!::::::=:======-�==:=:=:=::::::J. _ _j AND SOVIET COUNTER· TRATEGIC DEFENSE INITIATIVE PROGRAM_ ___ ----J.=--.:..:....;,.;.�_:__.;_--,,...:--__;_;.--.;;..::_�..;:;;....;;:..;..:.... I PROPOSAlS GERMAN REUNIFICATION ISRAEL­ PALESTINIAN, JORDANIAN SOVEREIGNTY OF PEACE ACCORDS U.S. STEALTH 82 FORMER SOVIET ---1------'------'------� BOMBER UNVEILED REPUBLICS AND �: :::::;::::::::::: WARSAW PACT COUNTRIES ------1 START II SIGNED �EVA CHEMICAl, TACTICAl NUCLEAR TALKS START BY U.S. I RUSSIA