We've been lied to for decades, if not centuries. I try to remember this when I read or hear nationalists defend the US, but it's becoming difficult because the truth isn't hidden.
NATO's intention was to contain Europe's communist movements and isolate the USSR. The US and Western European capitalists' blockaded the Soviet economy, and the USSR shielded itself via an ideological boundary; the iron curtain was a dual creation.
FDR insisted the US wouldn't join the allies unless Churchill and European colonialists agreed to end colonialism (the Atlantic Charter). WWII demolished European economies, and the Charter inspired the decolonization movement. The USSR had nothing to do with the oppressed world's revolts that sprang to life after the war.
The USSR fought WWII's bloodiest battles on the Eastern front and was in no position to engage in another conflict. However, it provided finance and weapons to revolutionary movements when the West discarded the Atlantic Charter and continued to colonize regions.
The US didn't endure the USSR and Europe's economic and military casualties and positioned itself as a defender of democracy. The newly sovereign nations didn't trust the US and developed independent socioeconomic and political structures. Unfortunately, the US invaded Korea, Vietnam, China, and African and Latin American nations to secure capitalism and global hegemony.
Meanwhile, NATO established Operation Gladio in Europe to suppress the fight for a working-class economy. Italy's years of lead and European right-wing militias were NATO's deadly creations. Governments and Europeans were unaware of NATO's programs, and when they discovered them, NATO had already settled in.
Americans endured the capitalist wrath too. COINTELPRO, the CIA, and the police murdered and silenced activists, and Red Scare propaganda turned brains into a thoughtless mush.
European capitalists accepted US hegemony because as long as they didn't intervene, the US assisted them with imperialism. European and American corporations still own, operate, and profit from the pre-WWII colonies' resources.
Imperialism replaced colonialism, and governments that defy US economic policies suffered coups and interventions. Our government funds, aids, and rewards right-wing militias globally who torture, kill, and sabotage their countries.
NATO is the international capitalists' military alliance, not a defense alliance protecting people.
