Molotov’s Proposal of 1954 for USSR Entry into NATO: The missed opportunity for resolution of Cold War disputes

Abstract

The 1954 Molotov proposal as regards USSR’s entry into NATO comprised a missed opportunity to mitigate the Cold War. The philosophy of the Soviet Foreign Minister’s proposal was based on the fact that if the USSR was accepting a full US membership on the General European Agreement on Collective Security in Europe, then the entry of the USSR into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization could be more easily achieved. However, according to NATO declassified documents, Alliance’s member countries characterized Molotov’s proposal as unreal, underlining that an extension of the Atlantic Pact through the adherence of the Soviet Union to the North Atlantic Treaty was contrary to the very principles on which the defense system and the security of the Western nations depended. Moreover, they characterized the Soviet proposal as a product of propaganda pursuing to NATO’s paralysis and subsequently its dissolution.