Since the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation celebrated its fiftieth birthday in Washington in 1999, questions about its continuing role and relevance have grown ever louder. The current spat reflects underlying tensions between members over new strategies to cope with new threats. Cold War certainties have long since gone, and the alliance is now in doubt as a serious military player. This has profound implications for future European security.
NATO: Decline and Fall
The Iraq crisis may have taken its first casualty before a shot could be fired. NATO is looking damaged after an acrimonious internal division over preparations for possible war. Much of the Anglo-Saxon media characterised the breaking of NATO’s silence procedure by France, Belgium and Germany as outrageous. Was this not a case of those who had benefited from alliance security for half a century biting the hand of their most steadfast protector?
