NATO's goals in 21st century

   One purpose of NATO in the 21st century would be to keep doing what it has done well in the first half-century, which was to provide political and military cooperation between the United States and Europe. Such alliance would focus on collective defense and also tasks beyond the defense of territory. Since the collapse of Soviet Union, the importance of Europe to American interests has declined. 
   Instead, U.S security interests would focus more on other non-European regions, especially Asia. Therefore, it is also NATO's purpose to expand, work and collaborate with other regions both inside and outside of Europe. With the expansion, NATO would have to face the question whether or not to intervene in wars and conflicts to protect democracy and collective security of the Alliance. 
    As an organization of values, NATO would have to promote and enforce the common norms and standards including rule of law, principles of sovereignty, protection of human rights, and fundamental freedoms and equality between peoples. They will have to make these values become the standards of conduct within and between states in the Euro-Atlantic area. Once the values are aligned among members, there will be mutual goals to work toward allied interests.
    That said, the purposes of NATO are collective defense, collective interests, and collective security. Together they create a unifying vision for an Atlantic Alliance of the 21st century. It is one in which democratic forms of government are the norm, individual liberty, and minority rights are protected, and open, market economies provide an expanding basis for the welfare of all people. At the same time, its habit of cooperative defense and command structure provides its members with a unique foundation of joint military actions, which can protect the common interests of NATO members. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

U.S Foreign Policy towards Middle East

After World War II, the overriding concern of American foreign policy was finding a new way to check Soviet expansion and influence throughout the world. The Middle East, specifically, was a vulnerable target for the U.S. and Soviet Union after British and French colonialism. That said, US foreign policy towards the Middle East was not completely linear during the past century. Instead, it can be divided into two periods — during the Cold War and after the Cold War. During the Cold War, U.S. foreign policy was mostly a reaction to Soviet strength, position, and action. [1] After the Cold War, the Middle East — being considered as part of the Third World, was to be “exploited” for the needs of the industrial societies and to “fulfill its major function as a source of raw materials and a market.”[2] In other words, peace and oil have been the main focus of US foreign policy in the Middle East after the Cold War.  During the Cold War, the Soviet goal was to achieve strategic pari...
Read more

Memorandum on US policy on the Paris Agreement

TO: President Donald Trump FROM: Matt Fitzgerald DATE: April 29, 2018 SUBJECT: Memorandum on US policy on the Paris Agreement Introduction Climate change has been increasingly affecting Earth ever since the industrial revolution. Earth has been becoming warmer every month. Sea levels have been rising, and coastlines have been disappearing. Something needs to be done so that the effects of climate change do not become permanent. There have been many failed global attempts to decrease our carbon emissions, and many countries including the three largest polluters, the U.S., China, and India are reluctant to do so. Only one attempt looks promising to help start the trend towards using green energy. The Paris Accords might not be perfect, but it is a good start to the world using green energy. Option 1 Pulling out of the Accords will be a reckless long-term decision. The U.S. needs to be the leader of the free world. The U.S. is the largest polluter in terms of population. W...
Read more

Memorandum on United States Foreign Policy Regarding North Korea

Memorandum Memorandum on United States Foreign Policy Regarding North Korea To: President Donald Trump CC: Professor Shirk From: Foreign Policy Analyst, Victoria Hassan Subject: The North Korean Nuclear Arsenal Dilemma Issue: If not already, North Korea is very close to achieving nuclear armed international ballistic missile capability that is capable of reaching the United States and other regions of North America. Even to experts, North Korea’s motive and intentions for building up a nuclear arsenal have been quite unclear and unpredictable. Recently, there has been much debate as to whether or not the United States should take military action regarding North Korea’s reluctance to denuclearize the entire Korean Peninsula. However, U.S. military action and complete U.S.  inaction are not the only options for dealing with North Korea. Option 1: Trump-Kim Summit Peaceful Negotiations Avoiding military action and possibly the use of nuclear weapons agai...
Read more