The Truman Doctrine and NATO Enlargement: Rejecting Realism

In reflecting on the disastrous consequences of NATO enlargement that followed on the heels of our victory in the Cold War—a decision that George F. Kennan characterized as the most fateful error of U.S. foreign policy in the post-Cold War era—it harkened back to March 12, 1947, the day that President Harry Truman urged Congress to provide economic and humanitarian assistance to Greece and Turkey, which was subsequently called the Truman Doctrine