REVIVING NATO

 Editorial de  “The Washington Post” del 08.05.2003

The good news for seven countries of Central and Eastern Europe is that the Senate today is likely to overwhelmingly approve their entrance into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, which has been the foundation of Western security for more than a half-century. The bad news is that they have real reason to worry whether the exclusive club they are joining will survive much longer. The end of the Cold War weakened NATO's cohesion and sense of purpose; the war in Iraq threatened to shatter it altogether. France's obstruction of a NATO decision to defend Turkey, a member, against possible attack raised the question of whether the alliance's 19 members still have a common vision of security, much less the ability to agree on concrete actions. The danger that the alliance could dissolve, formally or as a practical matter, still exists. But the U.S. ratification of membership for Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Bulgaria and Romania offers reminders of why a NATO with 26 members is needed -- and why the Bush administration should be working to save it.

NATO's best advertisement is the presence in Washington this week of democratic leaders from states that endured authoritarian or totalitarian rule for much of the 20th century. For these nations, the embrace of democracy and free-market economies was not by any means automatic after liberation from the Soviet bloc. That they all now swear by elections, civilian control of the military, acceptance of Europe's existing borders and fair treatment of their ethnic minorities has much to do with NATO. All sought membership in the alliance as a guarantor of their independence and security, and as a way of bonding with the United States. NATO's leaders wisely responded by opening the door while setting strict requirements. The alliance has thereby played a vital role in stabilizing and democratizing the eastern half of Europe -- but the job is not yet done. More than a half-dozen European countries, including giant Ukraine and volatile Serbia, still lie outside NATO. None is yet a stable democracy, but most would like to join the alliance. That gives NATO another valuable mission of tutelage for the next few years, one that is surely security-centered if not purely military, and one the Bush administration and "old Europe" can agree on.

The swift U.S.-led victory in Iraq has also given NATO a chance to revive itself as a military alliance and instrument of transatlantic partnership. Despite the lingering bitterness over the Iraq debate, the allies managed to agree two weeks ago that NATO would take over the peacekeeping operation in Afghanistan, a vital mission and one that, in its reach far beyond Europe, would have been inconceivable a few years ago. Even more significant are the discussions now quietly taking place in Brussels about a possible NATO role in Iraq -- an operation that would greatly relieve the postwar burden on the United States and go a long way toward overcoming the split over the war. If well managed, a NATO mission in Iraq could be the beginning of a larger collaboration between Europe and the United States to promote stability and democracy in the greater Middle East. The manifest success of Central Europe should encourage NATO to take on that challenge.