USFPS18G6

Memorandum on Ukraine TO: Mr. Ivo Daalder FROM: Renée Radavich DATE: August 1, 2014 RE: Russia’s Aggression Towards Ukraine Introduction On February 20, 2014, Russia troops entered the Crimea region and took control, claiming the land rightfully belonged to them. As of now, the United States and NATO have been silent on the matter. Although Ukraine is not a member of NATO, they have aided in multiple missions. The world is now watching the United States and NATO to see what our response will be. I propose one action that I believe is in the best interest of our nation. We must persuade France and Germany to allow Ukraine to enter NATO. Doing so will force Russia to stop their aggression towards Ukraine. Ukraine’s Bouts with NATO Ukraine’s commitment towards NATO officially began on July 9, 1997, with the signing of the Charter on a Distinctive Partnership between Ukraine and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Since then, Ukraine ha...

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization or better known as NATO was brought together to defend Europe from the Soviet Union, but it has turned into something else as time has gone by. With the fall of the Soviet Union, the alliance could be seen as not useful now, but this can be used further as a fight against new threats that might arise.             Not only useful in Europe, NATO can be utilized on the global scale for the countries that are involved in it. The United States can use NATO for their national interests and other countries associated with NATO can as well. With a possible rise of Russia on the world affairs, NATO can ensure that they do not do something that would infringe upon another nation. NATO can be used an alliance just like it was used to stop the spread of Communism and Fascism, which is now used to stop nations from threatening others.             ...

NATO was created as a means of deterrence after the Second World War by the victorious allied powers minus the Soviets. It proved quite useful on the outset of the Korea war as people realized the real threat that the expanding communist beliefs posed. With this allied treaty of defense, it could deter communist forces from attacking a NATO nation, and if they were foolish enough, the whole combined might of NATO would be unleashed. People today have been calling for the US to leave NATO since the threat of communism is essentially none. But doing this would be very foolish because it still provides a defensive umbrella over the western hemisphere. No one would dare attack Germany, France, UK, Canada, US, and the many more nations that are included in NATO. If we were talking about the UN, then there would be serious considerations that would have to be made. But NATO essentially is ensuring peace by deterring North Korea from launching at the US. Although we like to make fun of h...

The Purpose of NATO in the 21st Century The role of NATO in the 21st century is still be being defined. In the 20th century, NATO stood against militarism in Europe such as communism, fascism, and authoritarianism. In the 21st century, the enemies of NATO are less defined. There are no major militarist powers in Europe and with the Soviet Union disbanded, Russia is little more than a shadow of its former self. In fact, some of the Soviet Union's satellite states in the Warsaw Pact have joined NATO since the turn of the millennium. NATO is asserting itself in several areas globally in a process to redefine itself for the current century. Recently, NATO has been involved with fighting terrorist groups in the Middle East, where Article V was invoked for the first time. NATO’s actions in the Middle East have identified terrorist groups as the enemies of NATO for the 21st century. Despite the new developments globally, NATO still considers Russia as a threat. In recent year...

I think NATO is extremely important to US Foreign Policy and National Interests. NATO perpetuates alliances and as a nation that stands from European countries, it ensures that if there is ever an attack on our soil, they will fight the fight as if it is their own. Though we have a very strong military, if not the strongest in the world, we are surrounded by countries that do not have the greatest military capacity. Even though Canada is a member of NATO, we could not solely rely on their military to suffice if there is an attack on our soil. With that being said, if there is an attack on Canadian soil, chances are there could be an attack on U.S. soil. Though the U.S. and Canada are natural allies because we are neighboring countries, the location to another country does not ensure an alliance and having Canada as a contractual ally makes an attack on Canada much less likely since they are neighbors to one of the most powerful countries in the world.      ...