The information in this article can help you engage in political discussions armed with more insight into what countries we are allied with and why. It can also help you identify countries that are more friendly to the U.S. and might be good choices for travel, business investment, or living abroad.
The United States' most vital alliance is the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It was founded in 1949 to counter the expansionist Soviet Union and continues to oppose Russian expansionism today. NATO has helped provide unprecedented peace, stability, and prosperity to Europe.
NATO's members today include: Albania, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Montenegro, the Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Türkiye, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
In Article 5 of the NATO treaty, member nations commit themselves to consider an attack on any one of them an attack on all. The first and only time this treaty has ever been invoked was when the United States was attacked on September 11, 2001.
Ever since the Monroe Doctrine of 1823, the United States has forbidden European countries from starting new colonies in the Americas. When the Cold War with the Soviet Union began after World War II, the U.S. sought to shore up its hegemony in the New World with the 1947 Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance.
The current members of the Rio Treaty are Argentina, the Bahamas, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago, the United States, Uruguay, and (maybe) Venezuela. Venezuela's membership status is unclear because its government has sent conflicting messages about its intentions.
The full name of the ANZUS treaty is the Australia, New Zealand, and United States Security Treaty. This collective security pact started in 1951 to formalize cooperation between these English-speaking countries to maintain security in the South Pacific. Australia and New Zealand were concerned about the spread of communism in Southeast Asia