This interest continued throughout the Cold War age and greatly contributed to American foreign policy.
The United States formed several other alliances during the early Cold War years. In 1954, the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) was formed with Britain, France, Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Pakistan, and Thailand. This treaty extended American interests into Asia, a key reason for initial involvement in Vietnam, which U.S. leaders saw as containing the spread of communism. The Central Treaty Organization (CENTO) was established in 1959 with Britain, Iran, Pakistan, and Turkey. Both alliances were only moderately effective, due in large part to opposition from nationalist forces in these regions. The lack of support did little to contain the spread of communism, and both treaties were tremendously weakened or nonexistent by the 1970s.
The threat of nuclear weapons played a major role in Cold War politics. Presidents throughout the conflict had different opinions on how communism should be checked; Eisenhower, for example, had a policy of massive retaliation. Under this plan, the United States would respond to any communist aggression with nuclear force. It was largely ineffective however; no one really believed that the U.S. would resort to the use of nuclear weapons. When communist China helped the North Vietnamese in the 1950s, Eisenhower backed down. The policy followed by President Kennedy in relation to the use of nuclear force was a more symmetric approach; his strategy of flexible response dealt more directly with individual threats to security. This approach did not limit itself only to an all out nuclear war in event of communist aggression. The most obvious example of this policy in effect was the Cuban Missile Crisis; the Soviets had placed missiles close to American shores and lied about doing so. This overt act of aggression was met with a combination of diplomacy and the threat of conventional force, which was enough to deter conflict.
