Entrance by the United States into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in 1949 was a departure from US foreign policy prior to that time. Previously, the United States did sought to stay disassociated from European political alliances, and had to be pulled into both World War I and World War II. When it became a member of the NATO alliance, this was the first time that the USA was committing itself in peacetime to a military alliance outside of the Western hemisphere.