Editing North Atlantic Treaty (section)

==Background==
The treaty was signed in Washington, D.C., on 4 April 1949 by a committee which was chaired by US diplomat [[Theodore Achilles]]. Earlier secret talks had been held at the Pentagon between 22 March and 1 April 1948, of which Achilles said:

<blockquote>The talks lasted about two weeks and by the time they finished, it had been secretly agreed that there would be a treaty, and I had a draft of one in the bottom drawer of my safe. It was never shown to anyone except Jack [<nowiki/>[[John D. Hickerson|Hickerson]]]. I wish I had kept it, but when I left the Department in 1950, I dutifully left it in the safe and I have never been able to trace it in the archives. It drew heavily on the [[Rio Treaty]], and a bit of the [[Brussels Treaty]], which had not yet been signed, but of which we were being kept heavily supplied with drafts. The eventual North Atlantic Treaty had the general form, and a good bit of the language of my first draft, but with a number of important differences.<ref name="trumanlibrary1">{{cite web |url=http://www.trumanlibrary.org/oralhist/achilles.htm |title=Theodore Achilles Oral History Interview |publisher=Truman Library |access-date=2014-05-29 |archive-date=20 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180720111444/https://www.trumanlibrary.org/oralhist/achilles.htm |url-status=live }}</ref></blockquote>

According to Achilles, another important author of the treaty was [[John D. Hickerson]]:

<blockquote>More than any human being Jack was responsible for the nature, content, and form of the Treaty...It was a one-man Hickerson treaty.<ref name="trumanlibrary1"/></blockquote>

As a fundamental component of NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty is a product of the US' desire to avoid overextension at the end of World War II, and consequently pursue multilateralism in Europe.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Cha|first=Victor|date=Winter 2009–2010|title=Powerplay: Origins of U.S. Alliances in Asia|journal=International Security|volume=34|issue=3|pages=158–196|doi=10.1162/isec.2010.34.3.158|s2cid=57566528}}</ref> It is part of the US' collective defense arrangement with Western European powers, following a long and deliberative process.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Mabon|first=David W.|date=May 1988|title=Elusive Agreements: The Pacific Pact Proposals of 1949–1951|journal=Pacific Historical Review|volume=57|issue=2|pages=147–178|doi=10.2307/4492264|jstor=4492264}}</ref> The treaty was created with an armed attack by the [[Soviet Union]] against [[Western Europe]] in mind,<ref>{{cite web |title=A short history of NATO |url=https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/declassified_139339.htm |website=NATO |access-date=9 November 2022 |language=en |archive-date=29 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190329074417/https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/declassified_139339.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> although the mutual self-defense clause was never invoked during the [[Cold War]].

By signing the North Atlantic Treaty, parties are "determined to safeguard the freedom, common heritage and civilization of the peoples, founded on the principles of democracy, individual liberty and the rule of law."<ref name=":0a">{{Cite web|url=https://www.loc.gov/law/help/us-treaties/bevans/m-ust000004-0828.pdf|title=About this Collection &#124; United States Treaties and Other International Agreements &#124; Digital Collections &#124; Library of Congress|website=[[Library of Congress]]|access-date=24 September 2019|archive-date=29 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210329123308/https://www.loc.gov/law/help/us-treaties/bevans/m-ust000004-0828.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>