Much ado about not doing much
NATO is mostly defined by what its members won’t do. Leave well enough alone.
This week’s NATO summit in Washington was unofficially dominated by the expectation of another gaffe that might end for good President Biden’s candidacy for reelection – and of course by the war in Ukraine.
Since Ukraine has dominated these annual summits ever since Russia invaded it in 2022 (and in some ways since 2014) without even being a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, it is striking how much of the agonized discourse at them is about whether it should be made a member.
As we know, some believe Vladimir Putin attacked his neighbor mainly for fear that it might indeed otherwise become a member – bringing the alliance to within a day’s brisk drive from Moscow. So it seems worth examining, in honor of the summit ending Thursday, whether joining the 75-year-old alliance of 32 nations is such a big deal.
When people argue that it most certainly is, they are usually thinking of the treaty’s Article 5, which states that an attack on one member is an attack on all. Here's exactly what it says: “The Parties agree that an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all and consequently they agree that, if such an armed attack occurs, each of them … will assist the Party or Parties so attacked by taking forthwith, individually and in concert with the other Parties, such action as it deems necessary, including the use of armed force.”
Read that carefully.
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