With Vladimir Putin congratulating President Obama on scrapping (the rather nutty) missile defense system, I think it’s again time to ask the question why NATO just doesn’t include Russia or NATO be scrapped in favor or some new organization that would include all European states?
Chris Dierkes
Chris Dierkes (aka CJ Smith). 29 years old, happily married, adroit purveyor and voracious student of all kinds of information, theories, methods of inquiry, and forms of practice. Studying to be a priest in the Anglican Church in Canada. Main interests: military theory, diplomacy, foreign affairs, medieval history, religion & politics (esp. Islam and Christianity), and political grand bargains of all shapes and sizes.
Thanks to your generosity, we were able to upgrade our service plan. Hopefully this will help us address some of our performance issues.
on Joe Biden Agrees that Some People *DO* Deserve the Death PenaltyDavidTC: notice how opposition to arming Israel is met with ‘You don’t oppose Hamas and they’re as b… on Joe Biden Agrees that Some People *DO* Deserve the Death PenaltyJaybird: Back in 2023, Larry Nassar got shivved in prison. What was the most common response? https:…
on Weekend Plans Post: The Ghost TownThe bad news, I didn't get my stuff until this morning at around 9. The good news, IT CHECKED OUT. I… on Open Mic for the week of 12/23/2024If there were enough red flags and he slipped through the cracks in the system enough, then that's a… on Joe Biden Agrees that Some People *DO* Deserve the Death PenaltyInsisting that it be "equitable" is also insisting it be eliminated. Criminals don't commit crimes b…
on Joe Biden Agrees that Some People *DO* Deserve the Death PenaltyOf course the government can't simply "decide" to execute more people. Courts, appeals, more courts,… on Joe Biden Agrees that Some People *DO* Deserve the Death PenaltyHey, remember the CEO who got shot the other day? Are you aware of the sentiment behind the folks wh… on Joe Biden Agrees that Some People *DO* Deserve the Death PenaltyNassar didn't get killed. He survived and is still down in the Florida federal penitentiary (I think…
on Joe Biden Agrees that Some People *DO* Deserve the Death PenaltyOh, and I guess I should point the difference between 'getting the thing you can practically get' vs… on Joe Biden Agrees that Some People *DO* Deserve the Death PenaltyBiden just pulled a similar move. No he didn't, for a very simple reason: Democrats, unlike Republic…
A Christmas Eve Two-Pack of The Days of Real Sport
December 24, 2024
Even on Christmas Somebody is Always Taking the Joy Out of Life
December 23, 2024
December 22, 2024
Youngsters Make Merry at Evanston Country Club Christmas Party
December 21, 2024
on Open Mic for the week of 12/23/2024
on Open Mic for the week of 12/23/2024
on Joe Biden Agrees that Some People *DO* Deserve the Death Penalty on Joe Biden Agrees that Some People *DO* Deserve the Death Penalty on Joe Biden Agrees that Some People *DO* Deserve the Death Penalty on Joe Biden Agrees that Some People *DO* Deserve the Death Penalty
on Joe Biden Agrees that Some People *DO* Deserve the Death Penalty on Joe Biden Agrees that Some People *DO* Deserve the Death Penalty on Joe Biden Agrees that Some People *DO* Deserve the Death Penalty on Joe Biden Agrees that Some People *DO* Deserve the Death Penalty
on Open Mic for the week of 12/23/2024 on Open Mic for the week of 12/23/2024 on Joe Biden Agrees that Some People *DO* Deserve the Death Penalty on From Tablet Mag: Rapid-Onset Political Enlightenment
on From Tablet Mag: Rapid-Onset Political Enlightenment
What would be the strategic advantage of an organization that included all European states?Report
Maybe we’d finally be able to achieve peace in our time.Report
NATO was a specific collective defense institution made to balance against the Soviet threat in the Cold War. It’s something of a dead letter organization now and it’s been looking for a purpose ever since the wall fell.
Disbanding it in favor of a regional collective security regime sounds much more reasonable than keeping it going as a means of antagonizing a declining power.Report
What Nob said. Essentially NATO exists as (from Russian pov) an anti-Russian alliance. NATO’s mission in Afghanistan is clearly not going well and will likely not be repeated. It would allow Europe to handle its own security affairs–along the lines laid out by Jurgen Habermas.Report
Well the political answer is that as per Article 10 of the North Atlantic Treaty, states can only be invited/admitted by unanimous consent and the Baltics would block Russia. Any steps Russia could take on the path to membership would be deeply humiliating and untenable for a politician to support or advocate.
Add to that a fairly high satisfaction with the NATO-Russia council and I don’t think you have the political will to buck the status quo and/or actually admit Russia to NATO.
As for the second part of the question, I think it’s certainly much trickier. On one hand there are scores of multi-national organizations and arrangements – CIS, Shanghai Five (now the SCO), G6-7-8, EU, ASEAN, OAS, AU, etc…and accomplish either very specific things, very little, or specifically very little.
On the other, they also serve as a proxy for regional dominance, China dominates the SCO, Russia the CIS, France & Germany the EU, America NATO . Between both I think the relevant question becomes what would a new organization do and how would its structure reflect geopolitical realities. If constituent states can’t agree on the latter – and it’s doubtful they would – it seems most likely to lead to a structurally ineffective compromise organization or no agreement at all.
Something that just popped in my head is the degree of defense contracting and collaborative weapon system development we do with NATO allies. Russia isn’t on our list of states we probably won’t fight and therefore can sell weapons to. Unlike say Greece and Turkey who use the weapons we sell them to fight each other.Report
Kyle,
Your points are well taken, especially the second one. I think the learning of the value/practice of these kinds of institutions is the only way nation-states are going to have any relevance in the 21st century. This would take more visionary leadership, which (as far as I can tell) nowhere exists on the planet currently.
I think one way to begin to model this would be to expand the G8 to the G20–i.e. the G20 that already exists would have the same role/power/responsibilities as the G8 currently does. And then set them to work on various trans-national tasks: climate change?, regulations in the business sector, terrorism (intelligence sharing would be a biggie).
Again this is all pretty far out in terms of ideas and probably has no real political legs given the entrenched status of what’s happening now.
Maybe the place to begin with Europe is just to expand the NATO-Russia Council. I think that could then be the template for basically merging the two into one and jettisoning NATO.Report