Bonn Stays Put

Was the Alliance ever truly united? As memory lengthens, so does the history of disunity. The sense of common danger was so strong in 1949 that the need to organize for the common safety was clearly perceived by all. (To be sure, at birth NATO did not have Germany as a member, nor Greece, nor Turkey.) Today a strange and frustrating atmosphere prevails. We could well be in a situation of incipient unity, but the components are out of phase.

Let me explain. True unity would imply that the Allies agreed: on the nature of the threat, on strategic goals, on tactical methods, on the kind of action required of each member. We are still a long way from that kind of unity, yet we are moving in the right direction. Or are we?

BC

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Brian Crozier

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Was the Alliance ever truly united? As memory lengthens, so does the history of disunity. The sense of common danger was so strong in 1949 that the need to organize for the common safety was clearly perceived by all. (To be sure, at birth NATO did not have Germany as a member, nor Greece, nor Turkey.) Today a strange and frustrating atmosphere prevails. We could well be in a situation of incipient unity, but the components are out of phase.

Let me explain. True unity would imply that the Allies agreed: on the nature of the threat, on strategic goals, on tactical methods, on the kind of action required of each member. We are still a long way from that kind of unity, yet we are moving in the right direction. Or are we?