Now, I don’t have a problem with NATO summiting. They can summit on anything they like. And I also don’t wish any ill will toward the fine citizens of Georgia. If crimes were committed there by the Russian military then they should be held accountable.
But doesn’t the North Atlantic begin really far away from Georgia? And, last I looked (30 seconds ago), Georgia isn’t even a member of NATO. Sure, their invitation is in the mail, but still.
{ 7 comments }
NATO isn’t just about protecting and defending member states any longer. They have expanded their operations to help bring stability to areas of conflict all over.
Kosovo was a NATO operation and nobody can claim that they were a member state because Kosovo was simply a region within the border of Serbia. NATO is also involved in Darfur, Afghanistan and the ME.Â
It seems a very logical step that NATO step into the Russia/Georgia conflict. NATO has become what the UN was supposed to be but failed miserably at being: helpful.
By that logic I guess Turkey should be kicked out of the alliance? Not to mention the fact that Turkey and Georgia share a border, which would seem to make the situation – at the very least – of some interest.
Seems like you’re a little hung up on the name.
Another way you could look at the expansion of NATO into non-"Atlantic" bordering nations is that threats (like a refugee crisis) to founding members would necessitate bringing neighboring, non-Atlantic bordering nations into the fold.
Let me add that there’s always the possibility of spillover conflict that would involve NATO members. Better they meet and discuss that before it happens, rather than wait.
More importantly (as Mr. Shoemaker implies), Russia <I>is</i> very much in the North Atlantic area, and Russian aggression is thus very much in NATO’s problem domain, even if it’s happening in Central Asia.
What starts in Georgia can continue in the Ukraine, after all.
I don’t see this issue at all as Russian aggression. Instead, what I see happening in the past two decades is a continuous, pervasive and long-standing pattern of the United States in Russia’s space and upfront in Russia’s face.Â
I can only hope the same thing doesn’t happen to us here one shortly coming day, when the US economy dries up at the same time that our squandered sources of fossil fuels dry out before we can conjure up a replacement power supply. Because if we get paid back in kind, some other power or collection of powers will start treating us as the sick man of the western hemisphere and that will mark the start of the quick end of the american empire.
I don’t always agree with everything I read in Pat Buchanan’s opinion columns. But on this issue, I think he is dead on target.
Arnold Harris
Mount Horeb WI
I think Arnold and I are on the same page on this issue. It seems to me that NATO is all about getting anyone they can on board to shove their power in Russia’s face.
It feels like a Cold War move and a Cold War mentality. In light of that, why shouldn’t Russia act like a Cold War power?
I don’t think Russia’s actions in Georgia should go unanswered, but shouldn’t the body to do so be the U.N. or the E.U.?
Comments on this entry are closed.