alternatehistory.com

Why were the non-NATO US-sponsored collective security agreements so unsuccessful? Both SEATO and CENTO totally fell apart without actually doing what they were supposed to (namely, preventing the spread of Communism). Obviously, SEATO didn't prevent Cambodia, Laos, or Vietnam from becoming Communist, nor did it prevent Burma from becoming...odd. CENTO didn't prevent any of the Muslim states in the area from becoming Communist-aligned at points (though they always marched more to their own drummer than anything else). Glibly, one might say that because they actually had wars happen in their area their underlying weaknesses were exposed, but that doesn't seem quite adequate.
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