The Warsaw Pact, formally the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance, was a defensive pact between the Soviet Union and other Eastern bloc communist countries. The Soviet-dominated alliance saw military and economic cooperation between communist countries and provided a counterbalance to NATO.
The Warsaw Pact highlighted tensions between the United States and Soviet Union during the Cold War. The alliance cemented the Soviet Union as the dominant force in Eastern Europe and helped projected international power in the support of communism.