NATO global from the get-go?

Could the NATO have included other U.S. allies from the beginning? I find it rather interesting that the U.S. did not create a treaty organization for East Asia- they could have had Japan, South Korea, and the Republic of China in it. Perhaps NATO expands to have an Asian branch following the Korean War? And as the years go by, it incorporates the nations who otherwise in OTL would have joined these treaty organizations:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Treaty_Organization
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southeast_Asia_Treaty_Organization

Though admittedly many members would leave, just as in OTL when CENTO/METO fell apart. Ultimately, though, I think there are some additional nations that could uncontroversially become NATO members- Japan, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand. [Oh wait I guess they already do that -ed].

And these guys: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_non-NATO_ally
 
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Probably not. NATO countries are very much alike and had a cleare nemy next door. Once you start mixing in countries with different outlooks, different priorities etc it's a recepie for failure. Much better to have a series of regional organizations linked together than one big ass organization. Netherlands and Belgium cared about italy and Greece. About Thailand, not so much.
 
NATO is not just a loose alliance, but has an integrated command structure, various standaridization agreements, and is specifically obligated to defend Europe.

The larger number of countries, and the harder it is to reach consensus. The fewer members, the likelihood the countries can agree. If you expand NATO to cover the defense of Asia, then some of the European countries are not going to like committing their forces to defend places in Asia. They want to focus specifically on the Soviet threat to them.

This is why the US set up separate regional alliances to address common issues that addressed them. Other NATO countries also were members of them separate from their commitments to NATO.

Unlike NATO, these other organizations were less ambitious and lacked the integrated command structure, standardization protocols, and political cooperation of NATO.

When France left NATO, they did not abandon their commitment to defend Europe against the Soviet Union. They wanted to remove French troops from being under the command of non-French and preserve more freedom of action.
 

Cook

Banned
I find it rather interesting that the U.S. did not create a treaty organization for East Asia- they could have had Japan, South Korea, and the Republic of China in it.

There was the South East Asia Treaty Organisation (SEATO), The Colombo Pact, and ANZUS.

Japan’s constitution prohibits the use of force to resolve disputes and restricts its’ forces to self defence; involvement in regional defence alliances would be incompatible with this.
 
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