In the first decade of the post-Cold War era, the US trained much of its attention on Europe. American policymakers focused primarily on enlarging NATO to encompass many of the former Warsaw Pact countries, and on contending with the post-Yugoslav wars.
但是，随着冷战的结束和苏联的解体，亚洲逐渐淡出了美国的利益圈。在冷战结束后的第一个十年中，美国将大量精力放在了欧洲。美国政客的首要目标是扩大北约并纳入大量前华约国家，以及处理南斯拉夫解体之后的战争。